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Turns of Phrase

by Holly Mae and the Painted Room

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1.
we will drive to the top of the mountain this could well be the world's greatest vacation you could well be the world's next greatest writer i could become someone I only dreamed of we are the wild, and this is wilderness I'm sure hens break the morning and wrens break persimmons rents in the skin running sweet as molasses this is the morning we'll always remember this is the evening we'll always forget we are the wild, and this is wilderness I'm sure
2.
We drive to Detroit, me and my friends I hardly know them but I am at ease, I'm talking a lot from the back seat The city's bombed out. It looks like East Berlin, only nothing's been changed, nothing's been changed everything's broken We go to a very dark place where we say what can't be said, oh, oh There in the fourth room, out of the track lights impossibly small, by nobody I ever heard of, you are Diomedes you were the best friend, the one inside the horse inside wood-paneled walls, gift to the foe the undoing of Troy We go to a very dark place where we say what can't be said, oh, oh
3.
Green Caves 02:47
We are lonely now climbing up the rock face with bighorns and the ocelots But you brought all your tea and I brought little bags we’ll make a pessary Invite those mountains in we’ll make a fire We will make firelight Pour them cups of tea, I’ll sit right by your side, by your side Snow is driving down, icicles hang low round the mouth You don’t look too good, you’re drinking too much When those scoundrels call you just say open wide, open wide Staring down their throats you just lay down inside, down inside This is a very old tradition The wind is howling through the trees The wind is howling out the walkways I’m tied up in dreams, tied up in dreams
4.
Ships fold water into crests & troughs, miles of drapery, yards & yards of cloth Inch of muslin foam to mark where ships have roamed Breast plate creased to a point pushes on under a bonny Forging on and on to bark the shins of foreign shore And ships fold water It’s the space inside
5.
I saw the wall of broken china, landmark I dreamed from outer space I saw you racing along the breakwater, salted air in crash of lace You perform a new sonata, leave me a message and I’ll write you back I heard you got a new computer, leave me a message and I’ll write you back Oh, oh You slept in fields in sage of heather, gorse and broombrush full of bees The oaks are pushing through their illness, you’re laid up nursing swollen knees I hear you shuffling up the front steps, leave me a message and I’ll call you back I fold my hands across the table, leave me a message and I’ll call you back Oh, oh This is for the mustard bloom & the bonny painted room And the oil of silver spoons all over, all over For the island brown and the jasmine tumbling down all around this sleepy town, All over And it’s for the purple flowers and the idle passing ours and the lathe-turned face of owls All over
6.
You set your mind on the maze you're type that puts a horse to plow you'd give your body up to science and knotted ropes under the bed I love to see you standing there you have no sense of your command you have no sense of your weakness someone like me has to protect you Here is the end of a long red thread hold it tight and don't let go when you're lost come back (to me) you can follow it back Your brow is set with crown of stones a coronation in the sky I'm known to love a happy ending Corona Borealis up on high what would you do without my strength what would you do without my wit just another of the yearly ten just another of the yearly ten
7.
Long June 04:58
When I walk all alone, I feel that loneliness deep in my bones And if the signal’s strong, I know it won’t be long until I find my song No it won’t be long til I find my song So I stop by the Arabic store and I get rosewater, cloves and myrrh And I see that big book and I think of how long it took to find my peace Though they wrote it in gold leaf And I know that I’ve come far and I must be going somewhere And you’ve come far and you’re not standing still And I long to keep you by my side but I know that I am wrong La, la we are one long month of june, we/this will all be over soon So I put up my painted birds and I put up paper flowers and I rearrange my mood to match my room, push the window open wide and it’s cold outside so it’s cold inside, and honey you’ve hurt my pride La la la
8.
Now's time to pay for the damages I've done in my life so far, oh but I don't have the strength and I do not have a car, and I don't have you wanting me back anymore Now's time to pray for the challenges I'll face in my life ahead, oh but I don't have the faith and I can't get out of bed, and I don't have you wanting me back anymore So please, when you see me don't say hello just let me walk, because I still can't say hi without wanting to try to make you talk Now's time to relax in my own skin, oh but I don't have the space, nor am I sure what skin I'm in and I don't have you wanting me back anymore So please when you see me, don't say hello just let me pass, because I still can't say hi without wanting to try to make it last Now there's expansion, it follows every contraction I know that I wanted to free both you and myself from me and now's time to lay it down, it's time to lay me down, oh but I can't say I swim and I cannot say I drown and I don't have you wanting me back anymore

credits

released June 1, 2010

Lyrics & music by Holly Mae and the Painted Room. Arrangements by Michael Billmire, Mary Fraser, Serge Van der Voo and Merilee Phillips. Vocals and guitar by Holly Mae Haddock. Harp, mandolin, banjo, trumpet, accordion, back up vocals and some piano by Michael Billmire. Percussion, piano and back up vocals by Mary Fraser. Back up vocals and cello by Merilee Phillips. Stand-up bass by Serge Van der Voo. Recorded, mixed and produced by Michael Billmire.

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Holly Mae and the Painted Room Berlin, Germany

The Painted Room is an art-folk entity of varying membership that existed in from 2006 to 2012. Members have included Holly Mae Haddock, Sara Kwon, Kathy Kwon, Molly Morgan, Sarah Morris, Mary Fraser, Mike Billmire, Serge Van der Voo, Merilee Philips, Sami Jo Buffington, Ken Lee, Jaime Fordyce & others ... more

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