crying

i've always wanted to cover roy orbison's "crying" and participating in on the floor at the ace hotel, an interactive dance performance party bash jam, has afforded me the opportunity.  come to the show and hear it live tuesdays in december!

crying

i was alright for a while
i could smile for a while
but then i saw you last night
you held my hand so tight
when you stopped to say hello
oh you wished me well
you couldn't tell

that i'd been crying over you
crying over you
and you said so long
left me standing all alone
alone and crying
crying

i thought that i was over you
but it's true so true
i love you even more than i did before
but darling what can i do
for you don't love me
and i'll always be

crying over you
crying over you
crying crying crying
and so so long
and from this moment on
i'll be crying crying crying crying
yeah crying crying
over you

lili

a song commission for a sweet little apple.

lili

early morning, early light
early stirring this delight
early waking, early bloom
early shaking off the dawn and
early making up the room

leave the sheets and your dressing gown
leave the comfort of the down
leave the doorway for the street
leave the dishes leave your jacket
leave your kisses but dont' leave me

oh this day was made for you
and this ray of sunshine was made for you too
oh but don't you forget you were also made for it
and for a sky so blue so blue

lalalalala lili la lilili
lalalalala lili la lililililili

and when we go out tonight
bring your courage we'll share a flight
keep me laughing hahahaha
and then after we get plastered
you will smile and squeeze me tight

oh this town was made for you
and this family was made for you too
oh but don't you forget you were also made for them
and for a love so true so true

lalalalala lili la lilili
lalalalala lili la lililililili

lalalalalalalalalala lilili
lalalalalalalalalala lilili

i am grateful for unconditional love  7x

let's get it over with

this is a nellie mckay inspired ode to marriage, for the friend who introduced her to me. 


let's get it over with


you know that when you think about it
we've got so much in common
you lust after your mother and you wanna kill my father
and brother i feel the same
and when you think about it
this country's overcrowded
with gendered ideologies
we buy at discount rates
but i don't really mind
and i think that it's time i tell ya

let's get it over with and buy a house in tampa or bakersfield
let's get a little dog, a little kid, some adderol
and an suv filled with pre-packaged meals
oh let's get it over with and find you a mistress
and i'll find a mister too
oh i just wanna get it over with with you

you know we got to go
to the middle of this land, that;s where they understand we got to
rescind my reproductive rights
and get you a beer can to keep you a man

let's get it over with and buy a house in newport or santa fe
let's get a camper and drive around
and tune out what anyone else has to say
oh let's get it over with and get diabetes
i'm talkin about type two
oh i just wanna get it over with with you

let's get a mortgage and let's put our four kids
through state school it's the best we can do
let's find some friends who look a little less attractive than we do
and then a decent sized plot of land for our headstones
that'll read here lies a pair of assholes
that left behind a fuckin crapload of wasted time
oh let's get it over with
no one cried
oh let's get it over with
i just want to get it over with

you know we go to go
to the middle of this land to mingle with the bland
we got to mills around the mega mall in town
and work on our tans while our gullets expand

let's get it over with and live a life that no one will care about
let's jump in to a pit of debt
with no hope of ever getting out
oh let's suppress all our childhood dreams
cuz let's face it they won't come true
oh the time is right so let's get it over with
i think you like guys but let's get it over with
i just wanna get it over with with you

big gui

here's another commissioned song.  big ups to big gui for being so loved and for having accumulated so many nicknames!


big gui


come on come on come on come on come on (etc).
i guess we never really knew the fox before
we saw him capture mama as she's walking out the door
she had to pause when she saw the basketballs
bababababababouncing around inside the hall

that's when he sprung up
gave her the thumbs up
flashed his fancy teeth
and they started a family

CHORUS
watch out now big gui is coming down the street
give him a smile he'll give you his cheeck
he's got a donna and a lili and a little gui
but if you're looking to play you better know you're gonna get beat
yeah if you're looking to play you better know you're gonna get beat

no need to give the fox a change to outrun us
he's got the silver locks that dazzle and that's enough
to keep him just a bit ahead of us
when he's at the corner he'll look back and stop

he's gonna wait up
slow his gait up
won't make the catch hard
he's waiting to applaud

CHORUS

come on come on come on come on come on (etc.)
hey it's billy, hey it's billy
silver fox

CHORUS

hayden and marley

this was a particularly fun song to record!  i wrote this for one of my contributors' awesome daughters; for the content, he directed me to his blog recording funny anecdotes about them.  and i was informed they really like Ke$sha so...that should explain some of what you'll hear below :)

hayden and marley

help me help me i'm feeling down
pick me up and spin me around
call my girls we're going out
hayden and marley know what it's all about
we gotta grab our snowboards and count our teeth
we better come back with some new stories
when we get to the top we know what we'll see
cuz we know pretty much everything

let's sing!
let's sing!
let's sing
let's sing!

when we get to the bottom there's a cup of hot chocolate
waiting for you and me and she and we
we'll kick the snow right off our feet
do a jelly roll and head to the beach
gimme that sunshine gimme the laugh
gimme that seaside sandy bath
gimme some freckles gimme a tan
let's start a rockin surfer band

let's dance!
let's dance!
let's dance!
let's dance!

hold up!  i wanna make cookies
get out the pan let's make a plan
peanut butter or suger
chocolate or just chocolate chip
you better lick that spoon
oh no honey i forgot to turn on the oven

it's ok we did a lot today
and mom and daddy say
we still have time to play

let's play!
let's play!
let's play!
let's play!

cynthia

i've been in the process of recording the songs i've written for the wonderful folks who contributed to my indiegogo campaign last year which funded my EP "Make Me Breakfast" (available on iTunes, woohoo!).  here's one i wrote for my aunt cyndy.

cynthia

when i'm sitting on the train
and they turn up the air conditioning
that's what i remember the feeling of bare feet in the snow

sometimes in the summer rain
my hair gets a little curl to it again
that's when i remember the feeling of of stepping out of a hot bath

we are always moving from one place to another together
we cannot escape the love that makes us do it either

when i'm sitting on a plane
on my way to another saturated place
that's when i remember there's something like just enough time

sometimes when i think i'll live this life again
i think i'll probably make the same mistakes again
but i know that next time i'll be comfortable with them

we are always moving from one place to another together
we cannot escape the love that makes us do it either
why doesn't anyone notice that now is happening now
everything is nothing and we don't need it anyhow

when i close my eyes
i see the happiest version of me

natural disaster

i bought myself a toy for my birthday, and wrote a song on it.  then i played that song at rockwood music hall in new york city.  it was a lot of fun.  i'm going to write more songs on my toy.

natural disaster

any time i wanna go outside
i stop and think about getting sunburned
any time i wanna go for a ride
i stop and think about getting in a car crash
a car crash

any time i get on the subway
i'm pretty sure it's gonna derail
any time i eat at subway
i'm pretty sure i'm gonna contract mad cow disease
and then i'm gonna die from a

natural disaster 2x

any time i feel a gentle breeze
i remember that tornado in brooklyn
any time i try to suppress a sneeze
i remember someone told me that can lead to an aneurism
and that would be some shit, son

oh, oh, oh

when i want to go for a walk i know i'm gonna twist my ankle
so i sit at home with my hot chocolate and my hot self
and remember i am thankful
to have a home, from which i don't have to face a

natural disaster 2x

don't  mistake me i am not pouting
i'd like to go one day on an outing with you
to a movie or some such thing, where you'll woo me with a diamond ring

but if we go on out to the can-can
we might get stuck in the middle of a hurricane
and then you can't take me home
and nothing but the wind is gonna make moan
and nothing but the rain will be pounding me
i'll only be wet cuz i'll be swept out to sea
baby can't you see that it's a

natural disaster 2x

any time i wanna go for a swim
i remember i'm afraid of drowning
any time i wanna think about him
i remember that i promised myself i'd stop frowning

when we were breaking up
he broke my favorite tea cup 4x

natural disaster 2x

but baby that's when you came along
you sang my favorite song
kept me moving on
and we picked up the broken glass
and learned that what was brittle wasn't meant to last
so let's build a home out of straw and sticks
and then we'll know if the apocalypse hits
we can always rebuild after
we get hit by a natural disaster

natural disaster 2x

cuz you got my heart just like mccartney 4x

on grieving

a simple song composed for my dear friend michael.  he's one of the strongest, most magical people i have the pleasure of knowing and i feel like i grow just being around him.  he's the sunshine to my sometimes overwatered potted-plant-self.  one of the biggest lessons i've learned from him is about moving through unavoidable difficult situations, devouring them as though they are a meal one is forced to eat and then digesting that meal, using it as a necessary fuel, and finally letting it go.

the video below was recorded at the first volume of The Song Arcade at Ars Nova in new york city on december 9, 2011.

on grieving

as you arrived today
you looked up and saw the mealy gray
too much to broach but as it couldn’t help but encroach upon your red eyed revival
you opened your mouth and breathed it in anyway
as you sat down today
to a feast prepared by some mistake
too much to eat too cold to reheat
but i know you don’t like things to go to waste
give me a morsel i’m hungry and worn
feed me with yesterday’s forms
as you were shot down today
the sky crystallized into a dense and dazzling cave
and in your grotto like a hedonist Giotto your fingers exploded with your pain
turning your dark night into an azure day
give me a mantra i’m broken and hoarse
heal me by sharing your voice
as you left the ground today
i couldn’t help but remember to pray
and in my throat a single note came up from the down and moved through my crown to reach you
in the skyway
give me a melody i’ll give you mine
let’s sing in and out of time
3x