1. |
Oh, What's a Girl to Do?
03:26
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oh, what's a girl to do?
my father says to write a love song
breathe it into life and "he" will come to me
my mother says i've got nice friends
and means to ends, everyone deserves to be happy
i'm not looking for a companion
i want the arms made to enfold this body in
but if i'm waiting for something that isn't true
oh, what's a girl to do?
my brother says it's unexpected
late night conversations turned to kisses
my friends they tell a different story
battle scars, grim and gory, and near misses
i'm just looking for a gentle heart
one that still won't take my shit when i start
but if i'm losing faith with each new passing moon
oh, what's a girl to do?
and if i meet a man and he's beautiful
and he smells like sea and sand, and he's beautiful
and i know he's not you, but he's beautiful
oh, what's a girl to do?
so i will try to write our love song
breathe it into life so you will come to me
i see us walking through the jungle
stepping over stones set under hanging trees
and when the night comes we are not afraid
for our laughter echoes through the endless space
returning as this song i sang to you
and then i am waves, and you're captain of the sea
and you're sailing your sweet body over me
and we're sinking deeper into ocean's blue
oh, what's a girl to do?
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2. |
November
04:22
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november
these sunny days are growing colder
the trees are shaking their coats from their shoulders
or didn't you know? oh, haven't you seen the signs?
i told my friends you were getting closer
my mother's been praying
my father's been hopefuly
i swore i was telling the truth
don't make me a liar
and every night when i fall into bed
i'm staying on my side
instead of filling all the places
where your body will lie
and i pray your safe and happy
i pray the lord your soul to keep
and as i drift to sleep,
i'm whispering to the sky
goodnight my sweet lover,
oh goodnight my dear one!
i hope the morning finds you in the sun
i'll be so jealous of the rays
sneaking through windowpanes to touch your face
but i'll be with you before november comes
may to december, january to june
i've been wanting to share
some of these months with you
though i went away,
and the winters always found me warm
still, i thought of you like a letter sent
something on it's way, that i was mean to hold
and so i'm singing to you, through these northwest storms
good night my sweet lover,
oh goodnight my dear one!
i hope the morning finds you in the sun
and just like confetti leaves
riding the wind to line your streets
i'll be falling fast before november comes
these sunny days are growing colder
the trees are shaking their coats from their shoulders
or didn't you know? oh, haven't you seen the signs?
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3. |
Revolving Door
04:32
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revolving door
revolving door i know you won't disappoint
your windowed soul shows the world as clear
and i am a lonely child,
no friends have i to join my games
but when the nameless faces glow in glass
they spin me 'round, i dance and laugh
my mother says i can't live in dreams
but wasn't it her dream to live on park place?
and my father says ignorance is bliss
and smart success is his, so i guess that's the case
thousands of people walk by me every day
no one is happy above manhattan way
revolving door the busy people go about their days
from box to box they race
they spin in their walls to a dizzying pace
so they will ride them like a carousel of broken hopes
of "so it goes!" and as i watch the turn i wonder so
do their mother say they can't live in dreams?
'cause they walk in waking sleep through sun and through rain
do their fathers say ignorance is bliss?
because if there's joy they're ignoring it
do they think that's the same?
thousands of people walk by me everyday
no one is happy above manhattan way
i see them going as they're marching in a line
their eyes are downward,
but their lips are singing in time
"we are not happy, we are not happy"
i am just a child, i am just a child!
revolving door, i know you won't disappoint
your windowed soul shows the world as clear
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4. |
Benjamin
04:57
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benjamim
he was a boy, 8 years old
a shy smile and a kind and tender soul
something different, he couldn't name
it didn't matter: they knew it anyway
knew he wasn't the same
they waged war on the black asphalt
he lay in clovers outside their army walls
they said "why don't you come along?"
but he was watching the clouds and singing songs
they knew something was wrong
"benjamin," they say "he acts kind of strange.
He don't play the way the other boy's play"
and when they've taken him for hostage
with their killing games and guns
he says "can you lay me under flowers when you are done?"
days turn into months and years
coming in with hope, and out with it
now a man, he grows proud
but with his freedom they say he speaks too loud
and so they turn it around
friendly voices, and nice words, too
and he yearns to believe them, wouldn't you?
follows them out of the crowded bar
and then they drive to the country in their car
where no one sees but the stars
benjamin, he tries hard to be so brave!
to sticks and stones,
and the cruel words that people say
and as they're stripping off his clothes
to make a pile of what he was
he's begging "why, oh, why?"
and they're answering "because."
morning comes with a blackbird's song
does his mother sense something is wrong?
light awakens the sleeping town
his body casting a shadow on the ground
with his head hanging down
benjamin is made a scarecrow in the field
a crown of thorns to crucify the way they feel
and before life fades to blackness
he sees swirling of his blood
and thinks "what pretty patterns hatred makes on love!"
he thinks "what pretty patterns hatred makes on love"
he says "could you lay me under flowers when you are done?"
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5. |
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why you shouldn't love me
i've got a hole in my heart
palms pressed to beating breast
to try and fill it up
still, you will watch your love seep out
cup your hands and crouch down
to catch what's left before it hits the ground
that's why you shouldn't love me
i've got a mind that's as wild as the sea
and strong enough to swallow up
the very thought of you and me
it's so easy to drown when you're under already
so save your life preserver to save a life that's worthy
i'm as wild as the sea
so don't try to tame me
and you say "girl, you're like the ebb and flow of waves
you come and go but each time move further away"
oh, creepin' it at night don't make it right--
my morning's leave
and that's why you shouldn't love me
i've got these words that are as heavy as stones
just watch 'em fall
like cannonballs being shot out in a row
and, oh, the sound, when they come down
to connect with blood and bone
i try to hide, cover my eyes
but i hear it and it shows
i've got these words as heavy as stones
so i'm better off alone
and you say "girl, you're fighting blindly in this rage
just wave your white flag, you can salvage what remains"
well, i'm good as down but still to proud to admit defeat
and that's why you shouldn't love me
i've got this hope that i can be made whole
i think i've saved a place for peace to live in this soul
but i've got these fears, so i'll just watch this thing unfold
an epic's brave beginning or the saddest story every told
and you say "girl, our stories written in the sand
just try to be a good woman, i'll try to be a good man"
but going in reverse to the very first is adam and eve
and that's why you shouldn't love me
that's why you shouldn't love me
but oh, won't you please love me?
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6. |
Sailing on to You
03:53
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Sailing on to You
Last night I dreamed I slept in the crook of your arms
but when I awoke I was just a rocking boat
on the ocean at dawn
I am sailing carefully through a sea of blinking eyes
with compass, maps, and charts
to plot when yours will look on mine
The northwind tastes like freedom
and the south the salty skin of a man
and I'm praying for a sight of land
There are days when the mere want of your face
hits me like stormy gales
Oh, could the darkness know just how lovely she'd glow
if the moon it prevailed
Still, I keep my sails at mast
though sometimes I don't know what for
I fear the wind won't come to carry me to your blessed shore
But each red sinking sunset looks like hope swallowing despair
so I'm following it there
Here I can see all the beautiful colors
as they hang on the clouds and welcome the stars
I know one day we will watch them together
but for now I pray for you that it's just as beautiful
there where you are
The sea brings joy and longing
the wind, sorrow and peace
the sky brings retribution
and a branch from an olive tree
So I will keep my eyes on the horizon
and my face to the wide open blue
as I'm sailing on to you
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7. |
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dead men are heavier than broken hearts
i saw you once before
saw you when your lips were talking
you had stopped outside my door
i guess i thought your feet were through with walking
and i felt a smile pull on my mouth
and i felt hope for the first time
and i knew you'd be mine
so i went so far from home
to start a new one with you
but you soon began to roam
saying "sugar, it's just no one can love a woman like i do"
and when people asked "how can you be wife and man?"
i told them we were in love and that that was enough
but oh, my darling, we would get along
if you'd just stay, stay, stay
oh, my lover, i won't do you wrong
if you just say you won't be gone
'cause when i awake and i don't see your face
i try to count my blessings in the times we've kissed
but all those nights when you're not by my side
i tell myself "there's got to be something better than this"
so I soon devised a plan
so your cheating heart wouldn't stray
with the sleeping pills in hand I spiked your whiskey
and I waited for the darkness at the end of the day
and when you fell into a deep sleep
to your bedside I did creep
and let my anger out with ropes, strong and true
and when you woke I sang to you
I said "Oh, my darling, I can see you want to leave
why don't you try? Try, try!
Oh, my lover, it used to be so easy to flee
but you know I am done being the fool, you see
and these chains that bind will link your heart to mine
and you will learn to finish what you did start
you can say I'm crazy, but you know I did believe
When you swore to God in heaven to love me
death 'till us part
Oh, my darling, we will get along
now that you'll stay--you have to stay
And oh my lover I won't do you wrong
now that I know you can't be gone
And when you awake and you see my face
you better count your blessings in the times we kiss
and all those nights now that you are by my side
you better tell me there couldn't be anything better than this
I'm not sayin' that it's right,
but you're here with me tonight
and that's where I think a good husband should be
Darling, don't you agree?
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8. |
The Birds of the Air
04:08
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The Birds of the Air
When I was a child I talked like a child
with a broken mouth
and all my hope and faith and trust fell out
Now uncertain futures start in a faltering heart
and I have grown sullen and speechless
next to crying stones
But the birds of the air
they don't tear at their wings
so that things will be better
the flowers in the fields
don't steal their clothes
they are robed in heather
Taken have I the rode less traveled by
and that has made all the difference
as the path it fades
and though I am lost and lonesome with my own thoughts
I've got a blanket of stars
and the earth a pillow to lay my weary head on
For the birds of the air
they don't tear at their wings
so that things will be better
the flowers in the fields
don't steal their clothes
they are robed in heather
And what kind of Father would offer a snake
when his child asked for fish of the sea?
I know you love me better
so give of your blood and your body and spirit, please
The birds of the air
they don't tear at their wings
so that things will be better
the flowers in the fields
don't steal their clothes
they are robed in heather
And I will sing a new song
I will sing it aloud, the one that you put in my soul
I will sing a new song like the prophets
who told the kings and queens of old
The birds of the air
they don't tear at their wings
so that things will be better
but things will be better
things will be better.
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9. |
Dust and Bone
04:12
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dust and bone
from the rib i was made
it was taken from your side
and now i'll never leave it
my beloved is mine
before these arms could hold,
i knew you when i was dust and bone
with you i belong and with you i will stay
my darling, how lovely our story!
they'll say that one was made into two
as new stars shone
lover, come to me and lay your head
on my beating heart
and my body will be your bed
you came from the earth
breath turned into man
and you named all the creatures
on wind, sea, and land
and through many thousand dreams
you slept alone
but now i will follow you into the night
and our voices will ring out,
together in time
as we carve our haleilujah into sacred stone
lover, come to me and lay your head
on my beating heart
and my body will be your bed
lover, come to me, we'll ebb and flow
with the tide that moves
in the oceans of our souls
the day that i leave you
i won't be alone
i'll be one of the many
on streets lines with gold
and i know someday
you will find me in the crowd
the time may go slowly, the time may go fast
the time will return you
to my arms at last
and you'll hear me saying
'fore they put you in the ground
lover come to me and lay your head
on my beating heart
and my body will be your bed
lover come to me through dirt and stone
let your spirit rise
to my voice calling you home
from the rib i was made
it was taken from your side
and now i'll never leave it
my beloved is mine
before these arms could hold,
i knew you when i was dust and bone
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10. |
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Yesterday the woods I was walking
and I saw a man kneeling down at the water's edge
then he bowed his head and he dove right in
And as the ocean body's mighty arm,
the river carried him along
and as he passed me by his face was facing sky
and he was singing:
"Glory, haleilujah, I've got nothing
and I've got everything I need"
Well, I'm a wayward child, I know it's true
but your miracles, I've seen a few
so in the belly of a whale I'll keep my lamp lit
And after fiery flames of red and gold
to the lion's den, and the giant's sword,
you will see my lips kiss the dirt
whispering like a prayer:
"Glory, haleilujah, I've got nothing
and I've got everything I need"
Oh, humble people, hold on to hope
though kings build up walls
climbing higher to a mightier fall
from their fortresses and parapets
There they'll sit
surrounded by riches and crumbling stone
lamenting their memories and crying their woes
while you and me, on golden streets,
our voices ring: "glory, glory, glory!
Glory, haleilujah, we've got nothing
and we've got everything we need"
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Annie Bethancourt Portland, Oregon
Annie Bethancourt has been heralded as an angelic voice with “a lot of talent on her lips and at her
fingertips.”
Now splitting her time between the firs of Portland, Oregon and the palm trees of Costa Rica, Bethancourt lives a life of wanderlust, and her music is, just like her scenery, an ever changing mixture of people and places, strange scenarios, and quirky tales.
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