1. |
My Grandma's a Canvas
04:35
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I'm stretching out longer
I'm finding my place
In a world that has taught me not to take up too much space
So let the rain fall down
And soak us like dirt
We'll garden your hatred
Grow flowers from the hurt
So I'll draw you a map
On my body to show
All the parts of my touched when the answer was "no"
And all of the glances
All the ways that we burn
Now things have been taken that cannot be returned
My grandma's a canvas
My mother's a boat
My sisters are words getting caught up in my throat
And we're all an army
Our weapons are words
Our battlecries stories and songs long unheard
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2. |
The Water's Wide
04:30
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You were king before the people all discovered
You took the high road with your child bride
Now every step is weighty as you wonder
How you're alone, even when she's by your side
But you love her early in the morning
The way she looks before she opens up her eyes
And in those moments you aren't thinkin' of your daughters
Or all the things you left behind across the water wide.
He was born early morning on a Sunday
So fair of heart so full of grace
So when the cancer took his little body
It left a different baby in it's wake
Now 20 years along he's bagging groceries
And his Dad has learned to look on him with pride
No, this day-to-day is never what he wanted
But his boy is still his baby, and the water's wide
The water's wide
The river's deep
The hills are tall
The mountains steep
Which way you turn
You're sure to find
That the water's wide
My love, he makes negotiations
With his portrait hangin' on the wall
And with the mirror and every little puddle
He's not got any kind of confidence at all
But I follow his muttering and his cursing
Oh I'd follow him down into the tide
I'd follow him wherever he would lead me
Into the rivers deep and the waters wide
The water's wide
The river's deep
The hills are tall
The mountains steep
So have a drink
And so will I
Cause the water's wide
I've got two feet they're planted on the platform
I've got two fingers pulsing at my neck
And there are two paths lying down before me
I haven't figured out which one to take just yet
There was a home it smelled like something burning
There was a boy with an apple in his eye
But there's a voice and it's been calling me for years now
It's singin', "Come on claim your country on the water wide"
The water's wide
The river's deep
The hills are tall
The mountains steep
So have a drink
Or maybe five
Cause the water's wide
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3. |
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Funny Mary
Didn't fuss
She watched her daddy climbing drunk onto the bus
Pulled her hat down
And she pulled it tight
Pretended not to know the man who gave her life
Oh the week that
She gave birth
She wore pink and put a hat on, went to church
To distract from
All the hurt
Her little rag doll, tiny coffin in the earth
And all the blame and all the heartache it was hers
And my mama
With her diamond ring
Had a mockingbird, but couldn't make him sing
Tucked her babies
Beneath her wing
And didn't say a word, she didn't say a thing
So we pass our troubles down the line
They carry on and on each time
But when I reach, your hand finds mine
Finds mine
Finds mine
So, I'll be pretty
And I'll be fun
I'll shake the dust that's always gathering on my lungs
And these melancholy
Cumbersome
Feet that lead me towards the ever-setting sun
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4. |
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When we found that baby crow
You built him up a home
From a shoebox we had kept
Calmed his tiny quivering beak
As his heartbeat became weak
And I held him and I wept
So when he slipped away
He slipped away softly
In my hands
Board the plane at half past five
And I'm focused on my snacks
Take my window seat and peer out through the glass
Now I'm on my way to you
Towards the eastern moon
And the sun is sinking fast
So when it slips away
It slips away softly
And it's dark at last
Slip away softly
Slip away swiftly
It's clear to me how gently things can die
If you hold them just right
If you hold them just right
You mistakes and earnestly-told lies
They keep me up at night
So I text you all the time
I'm sure your limbs are all intact
I'm sure you're doing fine
But I'm scared I'm terrified
Of how you might slip away
With no one to hold you
Right
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5. |
Shoelace Tongue
05:17
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You'd always leave
The dining hall
"Just need the bathroom," you'd say, sneak into the stall
Where you would kneel
Look so devout
Just trying to wrangle something real from your mouth
What's left of love
Is on the floor
Where we had tumbled on the carpet days before
I can't meet your eyes
Just let me out
Can't seem to wrangle something hurtful from me mouth
I take a breath
Feel something cave
I swallow sawdust blinking blindly from the stage
Do you like me yet?
Somehow I doubt
That I can wrangle something charming from my mouth
This shoelace tongue
Oh the knots won't come undone
No those knots won't come undone
The day he left
The sky was pink
Above the girl who wore her smile but didn't blink
He gave a bow
Said, "I'm heading South"
And I try to wrangle something cheerful from my mouth
This shoelace tongue
Oh the knots won't come undone
No the knots won't come undone
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6. |
Maidenhead Fern
04:32
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My friend remembers with a sigh
The darkest days in 10 years rolling by
In a room outside Vancouver
Through walls as thin as paper
With her lover by her side
And that engagement ring she should have thought to hide
But he can only love you in the dark
In the basement on a pullout bed
Pressed together
Part of all this mess
Oh you held me like a rag
You held me like a cigarette
Drawn in
And burning from one end
But you can only love me in the dark
Now it's quarter past the hour
I'm trembling like the flowers in their beds beneath the eaves
I was frozen through the night
I think I'll buy more flowers
They don't know how to leave
Cause I can't even love me in the dark
And Lord, I feel so ugly
In the dark
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7. |
I Love You, But
04:20
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So there's this guy in New York City
I met him in Mexico
And thought I try I can't write him love songs
Cause I love him, but I'm scared and I'm getting old
I met a man in the mountains
He took my heart, he took me home
And when he left I sent him letters
Told him lies about coming to see him in the cold
We pack our bags in
The morning
The morning
To carry in the afternoon
And when the church bells ring there's
No warning
No warning
They say you've stayed too long you fool
Oh you fool
And now there's you with words like music
And gentle hands that seem to know
Where I've been and where I'm going
And that I love you
But I'll always have to go
And I can't be yours - I'm trying to be my own
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8. |
Anchored, Weightless
04:58
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You there with your sunken treasure eyes
You there with your carefully worn disguise
You there firmly anchored in your lies
You there messy hair, come over here, I wanna see you try
See, I could take you to the sea
If you would have a girl like me
And I know you've been treading water for so long
Moving through an ocean and calling it a pond
And darling, something tells me that cannonballs don't float
But sinking's not an option when you've made the choice go at it alone
See, I could carry you to the sea
If you would have a mess like me
We'll be anchored
We'll be weightless
We'll be anchored
We'll be weightless
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9. |
Garden/Grave
04:11
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Oh, I'm lonesome and bored
I stomp 'round the floor
To wake you up
Look right through me again
You're ugliest when you're draining that cup
We were perennial too
Am I looking at you?
Or someone who's dead?
Wash the soil from our hands
I'll scrub all I can
But yours will stay red
You are the moon
And I am the sun
I'm in the light
And you're on the run
You're on the run
Can't catch the night
Before morning comes
What happened to twilight, dear?
What happened to dawn?
I've waited a million years
For something that's gone
It's gone
It's gone
What did you think I would say?
Did you think I would stay
Around?
Now there's nothing to save
Our garden's a grave
Let's plant our love in the ground
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10. |
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Stefan's sleeping
And the sun's still down
And as I'm leaving
He rolls around
Like a tumbleweed on cotton sheets
Greet the morning
Like a clingy friend
Put on my loneliness
Like a sweater set
And all the goddamn birds
Are singin'
They're singin'
They're singin'
Carve my name
Into a paper tree
By a busy highway
Where it shouldn't be
And all the Civic and citizens
Shuffle on by
My fingernails
Slice moon-shapes in
To the palms of my hands
Into my useless skin
I was here
I was here
I was here.
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Maddie Storvold Edmonton, Alberta
Raised in Dubai, Storvold spent her youth travelling and playing music all over the world. A background as a spoken word poet and a degree in Literature and Philosophy allow for striking nuance and depth in her lyrics. With poignant lyricism, emotive finger-picking, and a honeyed, impassioned voice, her music seeks to tell us a story, to move us, and to touch a fragile part of the human spirit. ... more
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