B i o g r a p h y
 (by Official Press)

Sonya Kitchell’s rare gift may result from some fortuitous conspiracy of genetics and environment, or it may be the manifestation of something more mystical—but there’s certainly no denying her exceptional talent. Kitchell is an eloquent songwriter, dazzling singer and old soul who just happens to be 17 years of age. This budding artist’s extraordinary gift lies not just in her songs and singing but in the decisions she makes within both realms. To hear where Kitchell chooses to go, one moment to the next, in any of these songs is to experience, all at once, her taste, her preternatural musical savvy and her depth—as in deep. Once the novelty of this has worn off, the listener can simply soak up the myriad pleasures and insights of Kitchell’s debut album, Words Came Back to Me (to be released April 4, 2006 by Velour and Starbucks Hear Music), because this artist’s achievements are without caveat—Kitchell is the real deal, pure and simple. The album is an understated, largely acoustic affair, seamlessly melding elements of jazz, R&B, folk and other roots forms in a song-serving, rather than genre-adhering, way. There is undeniable warmth and wholesomeness to Kitchell’s dusky alto, but just as evident is a knowingness that is ageless and timeless. From song to song, she manifests a warmth reminiscent of Carole King (“I’d Love You”), the gossamer touch of Joni Mitchell (“Think of You”), the soulfulness of Van Morrison (“Let Me Go”), the yearning of Al Green (“Can’t Get You Out of My Mind”) and the structural sophistication of Burt Bacharach (“Tinted Glass”), and yet the sound is all her own, unadorned, authentic and from the heart.

“My whole life I’ve been a sponge for everything around me,” Kitchell says. “I soak it up, and I want to take as much of it as I can and make it part of myself. When I listen to something that I think is amazing, rather than think, ‘I could never do that,’ I think, ‘I want to do that, and I’m going to do that.’” Sonya’s experience with deeply felt self-expression dates back to the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2001, when the twelve year old came home from school struggling to cope with the enormity of what had happened that morning. She jotted down some therapeutic writing in her journal, and as she wrote, a melody formed in her head—a song was born. She sang it for her mother and a local folk artist who told her, “People need to hear this song, Sonya.” At that moment, making music, which had been “a thing I did,” she says, became her vocation and passion. It was then, too, that Kitchell came to see the act of songwriting “as a way of processing what I’m going through. ‘Train’ is about things going really fast, and wanting it to be fast and wanting it to slow down at the same time, and not being able to make up my mind. ‘Let Me Go’ is about my parents and me coming into my own as my own person. And then, a lot of the songs are about different guys—that’s never been done before,” she says with a wink. Kitchell grew up in a hothouse atmosphere of creativity on forty picturesque acres in rural western Massachusetts, where the family home has always been flooded with music and art. Sonya’s father is a top-selling poster artist with a passion for world music, and her mom is a graphic designer whose tastes run toward female singer/songwriters. For as long as she can remember, one of Sonya’s favorite pastimes is to tinker on the piano that sits in the living room, which her grandfather, a classical pianist and Vietnam war correspondent, brought back from Hong Kong.

The natural environment around Sonya’s home is one of her major inspirations. “A lot of my writing comes from where I live, which is in the country,” she says, “and it’s spectacular at all times of the year. Whenever life is crazy for me, I go for a walk in the woods near my house. It’s like clearing my palate, and then I can write and reflect. And a lot of times I write sitting on my bed and looking out my window at the hills and the trees. It’s just a really amazing place to create art from.”  Sonya’s first performance came at the tender age of eight, when she sang during a piano recital. In 1999, at the age of 10, she began studying voice with the jazz singers Sheila Jordan and Rebecca Paris. Soon after she’d written her September 11 song, Kitchell became the subject of a story in the local paper, and she was asked to gather some young musicians for an appearance at a local club, the Iron Horse. Over time, a formal group coalesced, the Sonya Kitchell Band. Meanwhile, one of her compositions, “Romance,” was awarded best jazz vocal and best original song at the 2003 DownBeat Student Music Awards, and she was one of 40 composers under 30 years old to be selected for a weeklong workshop in jazz composition for the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2004, Sonya was spotted by Velour, who began work as her manager and record label. She recorded and released the EP Cold Day for Velour and began performing live with her talented band, sharing bills with such artists as Taj Mahal, Tuck & Patty and Shawn Colvin. In 2005, she recorded her first full-length album with co-producers Steve Addabbo (Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega) and Jeff Krasno. As advance copies made the industry rounds, Words Came Back To Me so impressed the principals of Starbucks Hear Music that Words will be Hear Music’s second-ever release on their Hear Music™ Debut CD series, making the record available in all Starbucks Company-operated locations in the U.S and Canada beginning April 4, 2006. The album will be available at all traditional music retail outlets on the same date.

When asked why adults relate so strongly to her songs, Sonya replies, “My dad was an abstract painter, and when people look at art that is nothing but washes of color, they see what they want to see, or what they need to see in it. So I try to write in a way that people can take from it what they need to take from it, and they can hear what they need to hear. So I think maybe that’s why it works. Besides, teenagers feel things so intensely, and maybe people forget what it was like when they’re past that point.”  Does she have an ultimate career goal? “In the long run, I have high goals,” Kitchell says. “If I could create even a fraction of the amazing body of work of a Joni Mitchell or Carole King or the Beatles—or last as long as U2. To be able to support myself. And to have a family some day. I also want to be politically active and make a difference. But really, what I’ve always wanted is to write a lot of songs that stick around.” Don’t bet against her.




Words Came Back to Me
- 2006-04-04 -

Let Me Go
Train
Can't Get You out of My Mind
Words
Cold Day
No Matter What
Simple Melody
Think of You
Too Beautiful
Tinted Glass
I'd Love You
Jerry

 

Non Album Tracks
- Misc -

Black Crow
Burn Brightly
Fragile Things
Haunting Refrain
I Only Mean Good
Personal Reprise
Rendered Whole
Water
 


Add some NEW lyrics (B-sides, live tracks, Cover), want to CORRECT some of them or found a BUG ? Just send a little EMAIL or simply post a message on the FORUM. Thanx !

Words Came Back to Me

Let me go

You hold me down
Please, you let me go
I'm dying to be out on my own
And I think I might go crazy
If this lasts any longer

You tell me this
And you tell me that
I'm trying to tell you
Where I’m at
And I think I might go crazy
If this lasts any longer

Oh yeah
I want to let you know you got to
Let me go
You got to let me go
Yeah you got to
Let me go
You gotta let me go
Oh you gotta let me go
And I’m just trying to
Let you know
So please let me go

I've been on my best behavior
What more do you need
I'm not a savior
And I think I might go crazy
If this lasts any longer

You might think you're misunderstood
But I’m tired of acting like I should
And I think I might go crazy
If this lasts any longer

Oh yeah
I want to let you know you got to
Let me go
You got to let me go
Oh you got to
Let me go
You gotta let me go
Oh you gotta let me go
You know I’m trying to
Let you know
So please let me go

Well I love you and I need you
But I’ve got to get away
Give me space and I won't mind
When you want me to stay
And I resent the fact that I need you
You got tp let me make mistakes
Give me time out on my own
We won't have too much heartache

And I said oh
I wanna
Let you know you got to
Let me go
You gotta let me go
Oh you gotta
Let me go
You gotta let me go
Oh you gotta
Let me go
You gotta let me go
Oh you gotta
Let me go
Oh you gotta let me go
You gotta let me go
I'm just trying to
Let you know
You gotta let me go

Train

I've just taken a seat on the train
I walked through busy streets down a shadowy lane
I just bought my ticket for the ride
There's no turning back now, no matter what I decide

Steel body moves fast, hinges pounding against the ground
I sink into my seat and I pray for it to speed up
While I wish it would slow down

My body quivers with anticipation for what lies ahead
Wood is thrown onto the fire that cries out to be fed
Mist shrouds the dawn, so ahead I cannot see
The train it moves ever forward into the misty sea

There's so many faces
But most of the time I feel so alone
There's so many places
Will I ever stop and know my own home

I know I’m gonna get there
But I’m not sure when
Nor do I know where I’m going
So I won't pretend

I cannot see beyond the horizon
Nor around the bend
The train it moves ever forward
Without a seeming end

Out of one window, I saw rain
I looked through the other, and I felt the warm suns rays
The wind, it gently blew across my weary shoulder
And time whispered in my ear
"Child, you're just gonna keep getting older"

But I’ve done nothing more
Than take a seat on this here, train
Yet my life turned upside down and only
Only the little things remain

Can't get you out of my mind

I can't get you out of my mind
Your love is like a drug
And I’ve been so drugged by your love
That I don't even know the time

And all that I can do
Is think of loving you.
Yes it's all that I can do
It's all that I can do
’Cause I can't get you out of my mind

I tried so hard to stop
Thinking about you baby
I thought if I did something else for a little while
I might forget about you, maybe

But all that I can do
Is think of loving you
Yes It's all that I can do
It's all that I can do
'Cause I can't get you out of my mind

I tried so hard to stop
Thinking about you baby
I, I tried so hard but it didn't work, no
Oh I got to know, I got to know how you feel about me, baby
'Cause my mind is going crazy
And it's really starting to hurt

So tell me what
Oh baby tell me what will come of my love
Call me baby
Do something honey I’ve got to know
I've got to know what you’re thinking of

All that I can do
Is think of loving you
Oh you know
You know that’s all that I can do
I can’t, I can’t get you out of my mind
Oh no I, I can’t, I can’t
Darling darling I can’t get you out of my mind
Oh no no no no no
Can't get you out of my mind

Words

My words ran away from me
Now I’m lost and they're out at sea
Sailing away

They come and go, like the breeze
Whisper sweet, burn like disease
They change with the day

And I seem to say
All the wrong things on the right day
And I seem to do
All the wrong things on the right cue
At least most of the time

My words took me down the wrong track
And now I want to take it back
So I’ll run away

If only I could be free
Of the plague that my words seem to be
I’d thank the day

For I seem to say
All the wrong things on the right day
And I seem to do
All the wrong things on the right cue
At least most of the time

And life can be
Such a give or take
Some laugh while they're dying
Some cry when they wake
But there are some words
That I could never do without
That paint pictures on polished walls
And dance away with doubt

My words came back to me
They stayed awhile, we had some tea
While time whiled away

I said, "please be kind and please don't go"
They said, "we'll try, but you never know"
Depends on the day

And I seem to say
All the wrong things on the right day
And I seem to do
All the wrong things on the right cue
At least most of the time

Cold day

Every morning
Before the sun does rise
He cries
Then he wipes away his tears
He'll have no fears
And no one will know how hard he tries

Every minute of every day
She prays
That she will be strong
Enough to carry on
But she fears she's wasting away

It's a cold day in history
One of the coldest of all time
I'm so caught up with trying to stay warm
I forget to pay others any mind

Every evening
After the sun goes down
He feels alone
In his heart of hearts
Soul of souls
He wonders if he'll ever make it home

Every hour of every night
She lies awake
Thinking of all she's got to do
Just to make it through
Can she handle all that is at stake

It's a cold day in history
One of the coldest of the year
Can I hold you in my arms
And help you forget the fear

Can I hold you in my arms
And help you forget the fear

No matter what

She's a crazy girl
She needs an intervention
She has lost her world
And no one cares to mention

She just needs someone to help her out
She needs someone to say, "hey, what's it all about"
She needs a little bit of love and care
And most of all she needs someone to say

"I will be there for you
No matter what you do
I'll be there for you
No matter what you say
I'll be there today
No matter what you do
I'll be there for you
Yeah, you know it's true"

She's a lonely girl
Who needs some attention.
She needs to find someone
To put in place prevention
She needs a binding that will hold her and not tear
And most of all she needs someone to say

"I will be there for you
No matter what you do
I'll be there for you
No matter what you say
I'll be there today
No matter what you do
I'll be there for you, yeah"

And when I saw her last
She was on her own
Everyone was laughing and dancing
But she was all alone
When I saw her, her eyes were so, so, so tired
And her smile had gone away
She was high on strife and degrading life
That was when I heard them say

She's a frightened girl
Who needs good intention
She's been lost a little too long
Now she needs some direction
She just needs someone to tell her it's okay
Someone who actually cares about her day
She needs a little bit of love and care
And most of all she needs someone to say

"I will be there for you
No matter what you do
What you do
No matter what you say
What you say
No matter what you do
What you do
No matter what you say
What you say
No matter what you do
What you do
No matter what you do
No matter what you do
No matter what you do
Baby you know
I'll be there
For you
No matter what you do
I'll be there for you"



Simple melody

Spinning 'round
Till I tumble down
All my worries sink into the ground
As I lay here and look up at the Sun-lit trees

There's so many sounds
I don't believe silence can be found
Some would say it's quiet now
But I hear silence and it breaths

Lately
All I wanna do
Is sing
La da la da dee
That's all that I need
Just a simple melody
To set my soul free
For with out it, I can hardly breathe

Happiness has been good to me
But sorrow sets inspiration free
I love to feel
Everything that I can feel

I laugh I cry it's all the same
I love the sunshine, love the rain
As long as I can sing
About a beauty, so surreal

Lately
All I wanna do
Is sing
La da la da dee
That's all that I need
To sing La da la da dee
To set me free
To sing La da la da dee
For with out it, I can hardly breathe
Yes that's all that I need
It's all that I need

Think of you

You're like a breath of fresh air
Every time I’m 'round you
You take away all my despair

Anytime I’m feeling down or blue
Baby, all I've got to do
Is think about you

You're like the gentle kiss of rain
Every time I’m with you
You wash away all my pain

Anytime I’m feeling down or blue
Honey, all I've got to do
Is think about you

I would do anything
I would do everything
I would do anything just to be with you
I would go anywhere just as long as you were there
I would go anywhere just to be with you

You're like the spark of a fire
You kindle all my, my inner desire

Anytime I’m feeling down or blue
Honey, all I've got to do
Is think about you
If I’m feeling down or blue
I think about you
I think about you

Don't you know, don't you know
I'm thinking about you
Don't you know, don't you know
I think about you

Too beautiful

And I laid down in fields of gold
Only to rest my head
And I walked home
On a warm summer's day
With buttercups and Queen Ann lace
For my bed

And I ran until I could run no more
And I jumped in, to an icy cold stream
And as the water ran across my body
I wondered
Is this all just a dream

Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
It’s too beautiful to be

And I looked out across a quiet lake
Echoing the sounds of night
And I watched the yellow grass dance to a symphony
Early in the morning light
And I walked down the street
Crowded by faces and places
I’ve never known
Foreign lines, sketched by foreign designs
Seep through my body
To the bone

Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
It’s too beautiful to be

And when the night
Comes to tame me
I won't fight
‘Cause it’s no good to fight when you’re down
When the night
Comes to claim me
I won't fight
‘Cause it’s no good to fight when you’re down
No it’s no good to fight when you’re down

Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
Oh, my darling
It’s too beautiful to be

Tinted glass

I cannot explain
Why I am this way
Precaution please leave me alone
I'm tired of hearing what you’ve got to say

Sometimes I like it
Sometimes I don't

But it seems I always want to be what I’m not
And I’m not satisfied with what I've got
I'm looking through a tinted glass
That changes color with each question that I ask

Part of me is new and part of me is old
I'm running fast but can I hold
Onto this dream that grows at such a speed
I don't know what I want or what I need

I cannot explain
For I do not know
Confusion is planted in my mind
And the seed continues to grow

Sometimes I like it
Most times I don't

The more I know, the more I ask
Will I find answers or is this my task
Will a day arrive, when I am sure of something

The unobtainable intrigues me
Greener grass I can see
When my vision is obscured by desire

Sometimes I must
Look deeper than the waters brim
Take a deep breath
Before I dive in
Take a deep breath
Before I try to swim

Take a deep breath
Take a deep breath

I'd love you

I'd love you if you wanted me to
But you seem so unsure
I'd love you if you wanted me to
Tell me honey what I’m waiting for

Oh, I feel like I’m a puppet
Dangling on a string
And I hate the way that
You can make me do anything

Why I love you, I cannot say
Reasons are reasons
Emotions are funny that way
Reasons are reasons
Some things can't be explain

I'd love you if you wanted me to
But I don't think that you know
I'd love you if you wanted me to
When you say start, I'll be ready to go

But I’m tired of playing your little game
And I might give up, tell me, would you notice anyway

Why I love you, I guess I know
You are sweet and kind
And your spirit glows
You are sweet and kind
And it really, really shows
Yes, it shows

Why I love you, I cannot say
Honey, reasons are reasons
Emotions are so funny that way
Reasons are reasons
Some things can't be explain
No they can't, they can't be explain
They can't

Did you know
Did you know that I’d love you

Jerry

Oh, sweet Jerry
The man that she would marry
He'd say, "Oh, darling don't you cry
For I will always be by your side"

She took Jerry for granted
In her life he was firmly planted
She'd say, "oh, sometimes I wonder why
Jerry always stays by my side"

Jerry worked hard everyday
He worked so the bills could be paid
While she dreamed of a better life
Where she was another man's wife

Then early one October morning
She left Jerry with no warning
He said, " oh, darling won't you stay”
And she said, " Jerry, I've got to get away"

Oh, sweet Jerry
The weight he could not carry
And oh, oh how he tried
And when she left oh how he cried

And weeks passed by and the phone rang
The voice on the line was broken
She said, " oh the world is, oh so cold
Jerry, your love kept me warm and help me to be bold"

And Jerry thought she would come home
For without her, he felt so alone
She never did, and he always wondered why
And when he felt sad, he hid it with a smiles lie

And years have passed on by now
And Jerry, he gets by somehow
But he still whispers, "oh Darling don't you cry
For I will always be by your side"

Non Album Tracks

Black Crow

Black Crow, he flies
Over the town
And we all wonder
Will he come back
Will come back
Tomorrow, or another day

I watch the lights
Die at the table
And I say
Lord, please make them laugh
So I know, that I'm able
To survive

In this room so unimpressed
While I stand here undressed
For everyone to see
Everyone can see
But do they
Or do they just project
Who they are and can't accept
While I get caught up
I get caught up

In this, this crazy game
Where the wise sit back
And the foolish reign.
Well, I'm starting to realize
That we're all just the same
Just trying to be, just trying to be
The best we can

I loved the ocean
I kissed the sea
And I said, come back
Will you come back, will you come back
Tomorrow, or another day

I stand so small
Atop a hill
And I say, Lord please
Come to me now
For I'm empty
And only you can fill

You can fill this emptiness
That i've waited and debated
How to talk about
I said, How do I talk
‘Cause I could change
Like they tell me that I could
Would it really be that good
To loose a little
To loose more than a little

For this, this crazy game
Where the wise sit back
And the foolish reign
Well, I'm starting to realize
That we're all just the same
Just trying to be, just trying to be
The best we can

Burn Brightly

Burn Baby, burn brightly
'Cause you don't have too long
Burn Baby, burn brightly
In spite of all that's going on

When we are born
We're born with a matchbook
The question is
How do we use them

Burn Baby, burn brightly
You got so much to give
Burn Baby, burn brightly
I know it's hard when life's too much to live

So then you take a match
And you light it
The others wait
Till you can, no longer, fight it

The urge to explode, the urge to divide
The urge to reveal, all that's inside
Of your soul waiting
The urge just to be a little bit more
The urge just to see what all this is for
What happens, when you reach the limit

Burn Baby, burn brightly
'Cause this will be the last
Burn Baby, burn brightly
When you burn so bright
It goes by fast

And in the end,
There'll be no competing
With all that's been
For you would just be repeating

The urge to explode, the urge to divide
The urge to reveal, all that's inside
Of your soul waiting
The urge just to be a little bit more,
The urge just to see what all this is for
What happens, when you reach the limit
What happens, when you reach the limit

Fragile Things

You find yourself with a yearning
That engulfs you whole
It started with a burning
that incinerated every part of your soul

You greet it like a crime
You drink it down like wine
As the toxins go to your head.
You say, “I love this one the most,”
As you raise your glass to toast
The best things, that are now dead

How will you find you
You remind you, that that is all
How will you live with you
You forgive you
Big and small

You say, “It hurts more than I can bare.”
This you say, “ I swear, is the truth
An honest fact
I can't do it all again
I thought this was the end
Now my heart grows weary
As the line retracts.”

Each one, a soldier, a fighter
Without a plan
Frightened by the shackles
He sees buried
Under every contraband

And you know there'll be no rest
Till you set him free
So you open up
Your tender wings
Once he's flown ashore
You know he'll come back once more
But it's hard to trust such fragile things

Haunting Refrain

I would like to walk the path
Along the dotted line
With anxiety, I talk to any open mind

As if I can't bare the truth
That there's no easy way out
With each burden as the proof
That we are victims of doubt

Take a long and winding road
And you are sure to find
Oh exactly what you thought
You had left behind

You say, “There it is again!”
“How can this be?”
There are just some things, my friend
Of which we are not free

Again and again and again
They come to haunt you
Again and again and again
Just like a haunting refrain
Again and again and again
They come to taunt you
And they will not ever let you walk away

They say, until you face
What it is you fear
Somehow it will find a way
To constantly appear

And as long as I've got light,
I don't have to face the dark
But what happens when I can't find a single spark

Again and again and again
They come to haunt you
Again and again and again
Just like a haunting refrain
Again and again and again
They come to taunt you
And they will not ever let you walk away

I Only Mean Good

There's no reason
For all the things you said
There's no reason
My love, come back to bed
There's no answer
For all the questions you ask
Love, I'm just your dancer
Must you look behind the mask

And it's hard to believe
That I could only mean good
For you've been deceived
More times than anyone should

Turn out the lights now
We're all free in the dark
Nothing to compare to
So let yourself come apart
Let yourself come apart

I am just flesh and bone
I got a soul too
This harbor is my home
For now, I will meld into you
For now, I will meld into you

And it's hard to believe
That I could only mean good
For you've been deceived
More times than anyone should

Personal Reprise

I don't want to fake it
But it's easy to begin
Got a world
I don't want to break it
‘Cause it's underneath my skin

Started out with imperfections
That turned into gold.
Just like the water's reflection
That bend everything ‘round
Inside its' fold

And there's no way that I'd be brave enough to say just what you mean to me
I set apart, inside my heart of heart, to separate you from the rest of me

For I can't help but see you
Through rose covered eyes
And I love to make you
Into my own personal reprise

‘Cause I get a feeling
Every time you are near
My world, it starts a reeling
And forgotten memories
Appear

And there's no way that I'd be brave enough to say just what you mean to me
I set apart, inside my heart of heart, to separate you from the rest of me

And I cannot fight this
I don't want to anymore
I contend with resignation
I can't deny what I stand before

I can't deny what I stand before

Rendered Whole

There is a constant calling
Started out by falling
And as I gained speed, I couldn't let go
Now I'm addicted to this constant vertigo

I had a wind that carried my sails
My fair weathered friend, left as the night exhaled
Now you say, "You can sail anywhere."
You don't understand it's au contraire

'Cause I can't be anybody
I cannot defy very heart and soul
I can't be just anybody
I can only that which renders me whole

Your words are like daggers
They hurt but don't kill
I stumble and stagger,
But I stand still

Could you stop the beat
In a beating, beating, beating heart
Might as well stop the breath
Before the hurting starts

'Cause I can't be just anybody
I cannot defy my very heart and soul
I can't be just anybody
I can only be that which renders me whole

Water

Water's leaking from the bucket and you don't understand
‘Cause you can't find a hole
There's a preacher in the army and he's short one man
‘Cause no one's in control

There's a tidal wave a coming and it's on the land
Shaking us ‘round in this fish bowl
And every time I try, I just can't understand
The solace of each soul

There's a riot on the verge of demolition
Raging ‘round our heads
And the wise men with their flowers mutter premonitions
About the years ahead
And everyone is wondering if there's a reason
But no one will stop to ask,
For it's as if the truth is slightly out of season
And you want the old ones back.

Right now
I see you're hurting some.
Right now
You're like the trigger
On a gun

Every ember of your being burns with indecision
You swear there's something more.
So you sign up for the church of whatever religion
Opens up its door

And you pray that there's a grain of truth beneath the production
Of plastic hopes and dreams
It's the grain of truth that keeps you wading through water
So deep you can't breath

Right now
You're drifting on the edge
Right now
You're slipping on a ledge
Right now
It's a long way down
Right now
There's no saviour in the lost and found

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