RecordingsPreview. EP. Self-released. 2002. Organ of Habit. LP. Red Rabbit Records. 2007.
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From the ArchivesRed From Gray (4.9 mb) Yesterday's Girl (4.6 mb) Lyrics
No Love Songs Tonight Blessed are those who only know their footsteps Blessed are those who only know the wire I didn’t know that looking down beneath me Would reveal a terrain as distant as the sky So let’s sit quiet There’ll be no love songs tonight Only sighs of deference To that dark light That on this and every night May remind you and I of the space and the time Whose blossoms open wide Let us recall the dreams that came before this Let us recall the visions yet to come Silence is not the absence of creation Silently seeds imposing trees become So let’s sit quiet There’ll be no love songs tonight Only sighs of deference To that dark light That on this and every night May remind you and I of the space and the time Whose blossoms open wide Sister Tessem If she doubts she knows how to get over it Or at least to maintain a smiling face I don’t doubt she’s devout—she’s immaculate When she speaks of her Father’s holy grace History points strait towards redemption The compass takes the place of dice When Sister Tessem testifies For a while I’ve denied a certain hunger A desire to know my cosmic place There’s relief in her sure, reverent wonder The certain youth of sweet Sister Tessem’s face History points strait towards redemption The compass takes the place of dice When Sister Tessem testifies Come all ye faithful and join in a song about Kingdom come and victories to be won The gates of My whirring mind and pining heart Find peace in sacred choir parts But harmonies coat statements that ring hollow In my heathen ears Sister Tessem, thank you so For all of the blessings you seek to bestow And before I go promise that you’ll let me know If you ever have any questions of your own Greatness Can Wait Greatness can wait for another day Today she will be grateful if she only makes the bus Some things just have to wait Put it in a jar behind the spices in the cupboard It will one day be discovered By some disenchanted thief Smiling with relief As he takes his glistening prize He sighs to himself reassuringly, “She’ll never miss this.” He’s right in a way She’d be hard-pressed to say Just when the last time was that she nourished her ambition But tradition makes its mark The heart is an organ of habit That will one day be discovered By some disenchanted thief Smiling with relief As he takes his glistening prize He sighs to himself reassuringly, “She’ll never miss this.” Walk or Run Buckle up hunker down turn around Take a number get in line You might be surprised By what the human spirit can survive Do we come or do we go Who would know? We’re all so sick and tired But I say walk or run I don’t care just as long As it’s my own two feet that carry me Because the wagon’s full of withered souls Who know they’ll never taste their youths again And hunger only for release Such bitter luxuries Won’t get the best of me
Man at the counter he may smile But he’s sick and tired Painted lady wonders where she might have been If she hadn’t been so sick and tired Little girl look to the TV not to me to find A plot line for your dreams After work I’m just so sick and tired But you say walk or run I don’t care just as long As it’s my own two feet that carry me Because the wagon’s full of withered souls Who know they’ll never taste their youths again And hunger only for release Such bitter luxuries Won’t get the best of me The sun was made to shine On worthier toils than this Low Moan I heard a low moan coming from the bayou Singing of suffering and survival Did they break you just to make you sing That glistening glittering song That makes us all feel strong In the face of the worst Daughter of privilege now don’t you cry Nanny’s gonna sing you a bluesy lullaby Did they break her just to make her sing That glistening glittering song That makes us all feel strong In the face of the worst Three Million
Questions Driving from the airport taquerías And dollar stores compete for my eye The neatly trimmed green bushes and Marías Swiftly roll by Cardamom pierogies and red lanterns Available at little cost Do the lands from which they come remember The inhabitants and goods they’ve lost To this town of three million questions Tossed by the breeze off the lake Tumbling on down the highway And rippling in each sixteen-wheeler’s wake I have never been a fan of baseball But I’d like to go to the field To jostle in the bustle of the bodies Roused in a cheer For this town of three million questions Tossed by the breeze off the lake Tumbling on down the highway And rippling in each sixteen-wheeler’s wake The sky is pierced and poked by countless towers Indifferent to the clouds overhead Some opulently glisten others glower Homes for the quick and the dead In this town of three million questions Tossed by the breeze off the lake Tumbling on down the highway And rippling in each sixteen-wheeler’s wake Charlotte Ochanine You stand at the door unannounced I can see you’ve been crying for hours You ask if you might stay awhile While you let this sorrow pass And I see the secrets swimming through the green In the silent eyes of Charlotte Ochanine I wish there were more I could do than make you French toast To fill up the void lost love left origami hearts unfold With the secrets swimming through the green In the silent eyes of Charlotte Ochanine You have the vacant look of Tolouse’s absinthe drinkers And in you I see myself in my darker hours Oh Charlotte, Charlotte Ochanine Watch your fragile beauty growing strong Water Carve me out of water Wash me with cold stone Clean my dusty altars Honey take your daughter home Sing to me of sunshine Sing to me of rain Sing of glistening waters That will wash me home again Thanks for Asking I’ve been traveling Couldn’t tell you where I’ve been Thanks for asking But I’ll keep it to myself Deep in the jungle Damp dark and hunger Are enough to drive a city boy mad And the smell of death Makes you draw every breath with a selfishness You never new you had God bless the innocent God bless the damned God bless the mother With the rifle to her head God bless the innocent God bless the damned God bless the young boy With the rifle in his hand Mine was not to reason why Mine was not to make reply Mine was but to do or die Well I’ve been traveling Couldn’t tell you where I’ve been Thanks for asking But I’ll keep it to myself God bless the innocent God bless the damned God bless the young boy With the rifle to his head God bless the innocent God bless the damned God bless the mother With the rifle in her hand Well I’ve been traveling Couldn’t tell you where I’ve been Thanks for asking But I’ll keep it to myself And I tell myself I have done no wrong And there are days when I believe But at four in the morning Without any warning I wake up with a scream And the body beside me Stirs and inquires if there’s anything I need No no honey Just go back to sleep Well I’ve been traveling Couldn’t tell you where I’ve been Thanks for asking But I’ll keep it to myself Break I am not a saint I’m not your mother I’m just another lonely soul You’re much less adept at hiding your suffering Perhaps that is why I’m drawn to you But I can’t get you well I can’t even tell if you will seek your cure But I’ll stay by your side a little longer In time my love you will grow stronger But first you must break What if I can’t take the sight of you crumbling You stumble through my corridors Luckily enough it’s not my decision We’ll take everything as it unfolds But I can’t get you well I can’t even tell if you will seek your cure But I’ll stay by your side a little longer In time my love you will grow stronger But first you must break Kissing Satellites Your quiet voice from the living room Soars through the night Kissing satellites You’re in my ear I’m so glad you’re here You sound crystal clear Tell me something Anything The neighbors moved The dogwoods bloomed There’s not much new Goodbye, my love I miss you Years ago my great-grandmother spent twenty days sailing for
Now a single word circumscribes the world We’re so far and yet so close and yet so far and yet You’re in my ear I’m so glad you’re here You sound crystal clear Tell me something Anything The neighbors moved The dogwoods bloomed There’s not much new Goodbye, my love I miss you I can see you now talking on the phone Where I used to kiss you goodnight Each night Now you’re in my ear You sound crystal clear I’m so glad to hear your voice We had the piano tuned We’ve repainted your room There’s not much new But oh…. |
