1. |
Boom Boom
03:34
|
|||
Another noontime, another key
Another place I'm not supposed to be
I check the number to confirm I've found the room
He comes entangled and so do I
There's no excuse so I don't even try
I see him silhouetted by the window cross the room
boom boom
You wouldn't see him and understand
He's not a Clooney or a Cary Grant
He has nothing of the qualities you might assume
Yet real life does not exist for me
The only distance is from him to me
I estimate it's seven steps across the room till
Boom boom goes the dynamite
My knees are trembling, my tongue is tied
I'm not thinking with my conscious mind
I have to hold the doorframe not to swoon
Another noontime, another key
Another place I'm not supposed to be
And then he bends to kiss me where I put on my perfume
Boom boom goes the dynamite
I feel like Wile E. Coyote
trying to catch the bird in every show
Laying out the wire and the birdseed
But we all know where the bomb will blow
It isn't love, we're almost sure
What we have is deep but not exactly pure
We won't be topping any cake with a mini bride and groom
And yet there's something when it's time to go
Though neither he nor I would ever let it show
that we leave our hearts in pieces scattered round the room
Cause boom boom goes the dynamite
Boom boom goes the dynamite
Boom boom goes the dynamite
|
||||
2. |
Voodoo Doll
03:24
|
|||
It’s another long night, had coffee too late
and now I’m awake
with the force of my failures
there in the chair, wearing your face
Everywhere surfaces shining
window and mirror and spoon
reflecting my own accusations
till they’re crowding the room
and believe me I wish I were bigger
believe me, I wish I could say
I was strong enough not to hate you
but I just don’t seem to work that way
and I'd love to practice forgiveness; I wish I could let it begin
cause I know that I am the voodoo doll
that I’m sticking my own pins in
And I’m not pretending I’m free of fault
I feel the blame in my arms and my knees and the roots of my teeth
this ache is not anything anyone wants
but at least I gave you my heart
at least my mistakes were honest
at least I tried for a love that was more than a checklist of promises
chorus
and there’s layers and layers
the universe peeling like onionskin all possibilities
mobius strips of my feelings
turning inverting to alter realities
shakti and shiva destroy and create in a game of holy duality
which means love cannot be removed from the opposite quality
chorus
|
||||
3. |
Murmuration
02:47
|
|||
The day I saw the birds began
like any other
I never wondered what I didn't know
I drove to work and I drove home
I turned down Elm, where only oaks grow
mind on my money, stead of being on my soul
and then
surprising
before me rising
a thousand birds that curved and swerved
they twisted and they turned
like the scarf of a gypsy
murmuring the mystery
They were like a dream
they were like a dance
they were an answer without question
tension and release
joy and consolation for every grief
I don't know how they knew
when to turn upon the wing
but i felt my heart be lifted
and all the mothers reach and bend
and all the lovers breach and mend
and the enemy proves to be secretly a friend
The day I saw the birds
I saw everything
I saw a punk kid yawning
nun in tennis shoes
drunkard dreaming underneath the news
baby crying in a shopping line
while mama's trying to stretch another thin dime
we are all one
silhouetted by the sun
I pledge allegiance to the forces
that curve and swerve me
|
||||
4. |
Thoughts on Leaving You
02:35
|
|||
The pros are:
I would not have to sit here and watch you suffer
The pros are:
I could stop surreptitiously counting the pills
Stop searching your face for a trace that you're
finally turning the corner,
But the cons are: that I love you
And the pros are:
You wouldn’t have to try and feel grateful
And the pros are:
It's possible you would be a happier man
And I could buy a kitten, I could buy a
couple of kittens if I wanted to,
but the cons are: that I'd miss your skin
And I guess I should put the rest of the good
down here in the column: The moments in
bed when we briefly forget there's anything wrong
And the lines of your eyes as seen from the side
every time you smile at a joke that I made
Cause we still make jokes, everyday
And the pros are:
I would not be subject to your emotional whiplash
and I wouldn't have to feel like a mouse caught in a maze—
frantically trying to learn the turns to take
But the cons are, I can grow here
And the pros are:
You could stop telling me I'd be better off without you
And I wouldn't have to worry that you
never really wanted a wife
We would both be freed from the weight
of all of these needs
But the cons are: that I don't want to be free
That's not what free means to me
That's not what free means
|
||||
5. |
Sweet Relief
03:28
|
|||
I drive me a big eighteen-wheeler
all through the lower 48
but my heart stays parked outside Chicago
where Tricia, my true love awaits
She works as a dental hygienist
I met her just late last November
My jaw started aching on Route 80 West
I stopped in her clinic
I doubt she'd remember
But I knew as soon as she walked in the room
that my heart was no longer my own
And I saw in a flash what my mama kept saying
We're not meant to spend this life driving alone
Sweet relief
to pull the truth
I couldn't express all my feelings
I had all those tubes in my mouth
All I could say was, "Icia, I uv oo"
I'm sort of glad she didn't figure it out
Mouth full of fluoride, heart full of love
I could feel her fingertips right through the gloves
Oh, Tricia, I wanna kiss you
How I miss you babe
And I knew as soon as you walked in the room
that my heart was no longer my own
And I saw in a flash what my mama kept saying
We're not meant to spend this life driving alone
And romance
is just an idea in our minds
like Venice and Paris and sparkling wine
which is fine
But love doesn't bother with romance
It comes when it comes and it plays you the fool
Sometimes it's Venice
more likely the dentist
and you sit in her chair
and she wipes up the drool
and you're happy
just to be there with her
Ooo
I drive me a big eighteen-wheeler
all through the lower 48
but my heart stays parked outside Chicago
where Tricia, my true love, awaits
And I knew as soon as she walked in the room
that my heart was no longer my own
And I saw in a flash what my mama kept saying
We're not meant to spend this life driving alone
Sweet relief
to pull the truth
|
||||
6. |
Goodbye For Now
03:26
|
|||
I see far horizon in your eyes
I see that your wings are itching to get out and fly, I sympathize
but I linger, squeeze your fingers too tight,
draw out the everyday errands and suppertimes
The second hand’s running too fast
spinning through all of my time
and I know that it’s
Goodbye for now
but not forever
I’ll be here, holding it down, and I hope
it won’t be too long, yes I hope
it won’t be too long, oh I know
it won’t be too long, not if
I have anything to say about it
Opinions like demo tapes — everyone’s got one
and wants you to listen, they want to move you
I admit, I want you to listen to mine
But, deep in your heart,
you have your own set of stars to guide you through darkness
and I want to be one of those stars, so
I’ll just stand here and shine
and I know that it’s
Goodbye for now
but not forever
I’ll be here, holding it down, and I hope
it won’t be too long, yes I hope
it won’t be too long, oh I know
it won’t be too long, not if
I have anything to say about it
and what I have to say
is that no matter how far away you may go,
my heart will be with you,
and no matter how lonely you are,
you are never alone
Cause the galaxy holds us in golden arms
(Going)
Goodbye for now
(Going, going)
Goodbye for now
But not forever
(Going, going, going, going)
Not if I have anything to say
(Gone)
|
||||
7. |
Clear
04:20
|
|||
The shapes of pain move across your face
like clouds in a stormy sky
the shadows shift and change
and gather in your eyes
they took you for a soldier
and taught you not to show
then, to simplify,
taught you not to even know
i would take it if i could
if you could hand the burden
I would take it, oh
i would be the wind
that blows the clouds for good
I would blow and blow
someday this storm is gonna pass
someday we’ll see clear sky at last
days you’d rather be alone
it’s so much work to smile
and yet your suffering calls to me
so i'll sit with you a while
until the sweetness of the drug
spills you into space
pills I fear yet
long to see relief upon your face
I would take it if i could
if you could hand the burden
I would take it, oh
i would be the wind
that blows the clouds for good
I would blow and blow
someday this storm is gonna pass
someday we’ll see clear sky at last
someday this storm is gonna pass
someday we’ll see clear sky at last
my own strong body
guilty in its ease
sometimes I'd trade it
for an hour of your peace
heartache’s more than just a metaphor
it’s hard to get my chest to breathe
and now the nights come easier
there seems to be a change
though traitor hope has made us wary
a slow awakening
the smells of spring are in the air
hyacinth and wild cherry
and i would take it if i could
if you could hand the burden
I would take it, oh
i would be the wind
that blows the clouds for good
I would blow and blow
someday this storm is gonna pass
someday we’ll see clear sky at last
someday this storm is gonna pass
someday we’ll see clear sky at last
I think this storm is finally past
I think i see clear sky
|
Jenny Katz Northampton, Massachusetts
Whatever happens, there will always be music.
Like interviews? Listen to the
Composer Quest interview (Episode 34, "Physical Songwriting with Jenny Katz" or Tour 4, "Songwriting in New England") at www.charliemccarron.com/composer-quest/#episodes
... more
Streaming and Download help