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

the patronus song

as i've mentioned in previous posts, i have a wizard rock band with my friend  jay stolar - together we are lily & james, and boy do we have a lot of fun writing harry potter themed music! 

we've recently become connected with NYDA, the new york chapter of the harry potter alliance, a national not for profit organization that "fights the dark arts in the real world by using parallels from harry potter. we work for human rights, equality, and a better world just as harry and his friends did throughout the books."  the hpa is currently working on the "deathly hallows campaign", which is about fighting (bringing awareness to) 7 different horcruxes (issues) from november 2010 through july 2011.

jay and i have decided to write a song for each horcrux that the hpa tackles.  so far, the issues have been about starvation wages (they've petitioned time warner asking them to switch to fair trade chocolate for all of its harry potter merchandising) and mental health, which they're calling the dementor horcrux.  in harry's world, the only way to fight a dementor (a floating, cloaked figure that sucks all the happiness out of people and places) is with a patronus, an apparition conjured by recalling happy thoughts.  sort of like how peter pan gets people to fly...

i've taken a stab at writing "the patronus song" which i wanted to share with y'all.  this is a first attempt with little editing, but it made my morning writing and singing it in my kitchen! 

lyrics:

verse1
when i woke up this morning i was wearing a big fat frown
it must have been me who put it there cuz my boyfriend is out of town
when i woke up this morning didn't want to leave my bed
but sleeping isn't much better with the crazy dreams up inside my head

chorus
i better conjure my patronus (woah)
can't let dementors own us (no)
i better conjure my patronus (woah)
can't let dementors suck out my poor soul

verse2
my head is filled up with screaming but i'm not sure if it's mine
like fingernails careening down a dirty chalkboard, i feel like crying
i better pick my heart up and fill it with some joy
like playing quidditch or smiling friends or candied apples or bacon made of soy

chorus
i better conjure my patronus (woah)
can't let dementors own us (no)
i better conjure my patronus (woah)
can't let dementors suck out my poor soul

bridge
a patronus can take the form of talk therapy (it works for a lot of people)
a patronus can take the form of pills (sometimes our body chemicals
need a boost)
a patronus can take the form of a good friend
a patronus can take the form of a good friend
a good friend

verse3
some days can be pretty tough
just remember that you're  not alone
a lot of people out there love you
and some of them want to take you home

chorus
so let's all conjure a patronus (woah)
can't let dementors own us (no)
we better conjure a patronus (woah)
can't let dementors suck out our poor souls
we better conjure a patronus (woah)
can't let dementors own us (no)
we better conjure a patronus (woah)
can't let dementors suck out our poor
we're not done for
suck out our poor souls

the patronus song

give myself away

new song, scratchy track.  i'm picturing soaring strings swooping in at certain points only to abruptly stop and leave us with the palpable space of their absence.  knowmsayn?

lyrics:

i'm still not sure if i have ever really looked at his hands
i'm still not sure if i have a plan
walk out the door and fill the unforgiving minute with a song
we move along into the sifting sand

and so it goes and so it flows
from out of me and back again
speaking in turn it's how we learn
the boundaries between our skin
oh oh there seems to be so much to say
oh oh but i can't give myself away

my puckered skin begins to smooth out after swimming in the creek
my puckered lips weren't met and i'm feeling weak
i walk alone into the living night
thinking when might we get the chance to meet

and so it goes and so it flows
i know the words he knows the song
singing in turn it's how we learn
there's no such thing as being wrong
oh oh there seems to be so much to play
oh oh but i can't give myself away

and so we go
onwards and never talk of it again
calling him a friend
not calling him again
not calling him again
not calling him again

my many minds are tumbling over one another in the dark
my many minds are looking for the start
but i don't mind the looking i don't mind the reaching or the pain
i only gain the wisdom in my heart

and so it goes and so it flows
i can't control the things i know
watching us burn it's how we learn
together we will grow and grow
oh oh if we are heavy let us lay
oh oh if we are heavy let us pray
oh oh if we are heavy let us say
oh oh that we are heavy and it's ok
oh oh there seems to be so much to gain
oh oh but what if i give myself away

give myself away