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

charlie and lisa

here's yet another song commission from my ep fundraising campaign!  this one is for lisa, a lovely woman i used to work with at the alliance for young artist's and writers, the non-profit organization behind the scholastic art & writing awards (a recognition program for high school age creatives).  lisa and her husband charlie are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, so this is a little love song i wrote for them.  oh, and they met in an elevator :)


charlie and lisa

little lisa was crawling up to the ninth floor
without even knowing what she was looking for
in the cables and metal and the closing doors

cheeky charlie was humming a toodleoo tune
reed thin in tweed and eyes like the moon
and he saw what he needed when she stepped in too

where are you going on your way up?
do you have plans for this evening to sup?
what are you doing for the year or more?
where you get off is the right floor

little lisa was carrying an oversized heart
and was glad to part with just a bit at the start
but now she i sharing the most beatingest part

cheeky charlie's head floated up into space
but his feet planted firmly in their jigsaw place
fitting perfectly into a much needed embrace

where are you going on your way up?
would you like to watch our children grow up?
can you replace my crackling heart
with a lovelier one that won't fall apart?

little lisa asked charlie "how did i get here?
after all of this time i've made a life with you dear
and all because we didn't take the stairs"

where are you going on your way up?
do you have plans for this evening to sup?
how would you like to build a family tree
and climb up the branches with me?

song for derya

what a fairy tale summer!  fun gigs with the band, movies in bryant park, pool parties, a trip to the edinburgh fringe festival, a wedding, and a hurricane make this the #bestsummerever.  of course it has finally caught up to me and slapped me in the face with a cold but it's not unexpected and its timing is perfect.  since the mta is kaput and i'm stranded in astoria it has been the perfect time for me to a) rest off the sickies and b) make use of my overflowing creative well to write a bunch of songs!  as part of the fundraising campaign for my debut ep, i "sold" personalized songs - 26 to be exact.  yeah.  at the time of this posting i am exactly halfway through, having written 5 in the last day.  i'm hoping to ride this creative surge and churn the rest out before n/q hits astoria blvd, but we'll see who wins, me or my sinuses. 

song for derya

heard a heavy heart knocking on my door
beautiful and dark it had washed up on the shore
marooned by fear, but strong enough to get to the pier
and find its way to my home

hand in hand we stood there dripping on the threshold
until he asked me to swallow him up and make him my own
and in one big gulp i made a sacrificial oath
to keep him for my own

all i want to be is in charge
and all i want to be proud of is my heavy heart

heard a little whisper coming from underneath the floor
telling me that i should get up and down and out some more
and with a little tug i plucked out some courage from under the rug
and walked out into the storm

and since the wind was chilly i wore him around my neck
and when the rain fell on my head he grew up to protect
my little worried ears and nervous tears
and he helped me to forget

all i want to be is in charge
and all i want to be proud of is my aching heart

heard a little birdie singing in my ear
telling me stories of a place far from here
but when i turned to look in his eyes
i saw right through his disguise
and found myself looking in a mirror

all i want to be is in charge
and all i want to be proud of is my pounding heart
all i want to be is at large
and all i want to be proud of are the moments when i start

beer and longing in new england

yesterday was saturday and it was a beautiful day.  my roommate said it was going to rain but i didn't believe him and my belief made it not rain.  so we sat in the breakfast nook for a while and after lunch we went to astoria park.  i'm so excited for that pool to open next week!  we sat on the grass and looked at the river and at the beautiful people sunbathing and i played my ukulele and wrote songs.

here's one that i have been bouncing around for a few weeks - you can hear a bit of the park in the background of this one, so imagine you're sitting here and we're having a picnic while you listen :)

beer and longing in new england

we stayed up late, talking, your head on my knee
and honey you dried my tears with your poetry

i watched the grass grow, the lights go out, the sun rise on your smile
and we kept our hands and our mouths occupied with a bottle of wine

and i just want to wear you in my smile
and i just want you to be desperately inlove with me for a little while

i was a hunter, a hider, a glider into view
you were a hustler, a bustler, wanting me to be hunting you

i spread open my heart tapped out all the beats for you
i made it easy, too easy for you to sing my tune

and i just want to wash your clothes with  mine
and i just want you to wait for me on the other side of the turnstile

sometimes i want to punch you in the face, do you know what i mean?
and sometimes when i think i'll never think of you again you show up in my sexy dreams
but can you tell me, i can't get it straight in my head
did you come into my room and hold me on my tiny tiny bed
or did i dream that too?

i never had, told you, sold you out or made you see
i had to shake you, waste you, hate you for forsaking me

i can see you, read you, feel you with a single glance
and i know why you hung around me at the dance

and i just want to feel your hand in mine
and i just want you to completely lose yourself in me for a little while
and i just want to think of you sometimes
and i just want you to remember me fondly

beautiful alisa

another song for one of the contributors to ep fundraiser campaign, and a dear friend. 

i was driving up to the adirondacks with my boyfriend and we were writing a song together  - he drove, i played ukulele.  it was fun, you should try it sometime.  then evening was coming on and the moon was a hairline fracture in the sky and the blue was so warm and the water was satin and the ukulele was velvet and all of a sudden i was writing a lullaby and all of a sudden it became clear it was for my friend alisa who i met as a freshman at nyu in new york and who now lives in la and who is far away and blonde now and whom i love very much.  i hope she likes her song.

beautiful alisa

lying on her tummy, crushed against the rug
sipping something yummy from her father's mug
night crawls in around her, soft and without sound
beautiful alisa, embracing the ground

munching on a cracker, fondling a grape
fill the room with laughter, till the shutters quake
we are everlasting, we are leaving soon
beautiful alisa, made up of the moon

row your boat across the styx
and see yourselves all intermixed

close those heavy eyelids, put away the wine
her heart is where love lives, and that love is mine
come and hear the end now, come around the bend
beautiful alisa, she is my friend

my daddy

i'm in the middle of my campaign to raise funds for my first ep and am feeling pumped about the progress!  one of the perks i'm offering for a donation is a song written for you.  i have about 17 to write at this point, which is a challenge i am excited to face! 

one of the first people to claim this perk was my father, so that's the song i'm going to share with you here.  i was out visiting him and my mother this last week, and was able to convince them to learn the song and play on it with me - i'm on my mom's wurlitzer, she is playing congas, and my dad is on bass.

my daddy

my daddy you are the one who let me see
my daddy you are the one who made me

and we don't need a phone to know we're not alone
we're sitting on a throne when everywhere is home
yeah everywhere is home

my daddy you are the man got nothing to prove
my daddy you're with the band, you've got the groove

and we don't need a phone to know we're not alone
we're stronger than our flesh and bones when love is all we know
yeah love is all we know

my daddy you are a mountain, you are the sea
my daddy you are the maker of a family

and we are not alone cuz god can hear our groans
and cries and laughter and everything after we go
 oh
and we are not alone
we are not alone
we are not alone
we are
we are