1. |
Morningside Heights
02:36
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St. John Divine, whiskey drunk your arm in mine
You and Frank O’Hara in your yellow shirt with stripes
Love of mine, do you remember that afternoon in Morningside Heights?
4 o’clock october light beguiling your eyes
So kiss me in the supermarket aisle
Tell me years from now that you still think of me sometimes
Brandy wine and the taste of you still lingers on my tongue from time to time
Dreaming of the madrigals you wrote me in the night
And you kissed me in the supermarket aisle
Told me in my dream that you still think of me sometimes
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2. |
35mm
04:17
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I took a picture of you in your bedroom
You played me a song in the halflight of morning
Woodsmoke still warm in the air
Last frame, aperture capture the love we had then
Burning your hands in a still motion picture
I still remember you there
What am I to do
What am I to do
Without you?
Now I’ve been alone in the darkroom closet again
Crying your name till I drown out the sound
Of the hum of an infrared glare
Your hands glow, beautiful radiant warfare
In the blacklight of the buckets of chemicals
Reaching for something not there
What am I to do
What am I to do
Without you?
Maybe someday I’ll forget how the woodsmoke smelled
Try to forget you one day but I don’t know how
I don’t know how
I don’t know how
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3. |
Lavender
03:36
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Born into a world where the walls were painted blue
–– it’s a boy! –– your mother cried in her hospital room
You play your father’s child in his patriotic town
But you wear your mother’s lipstick
When you know she’s not around
You’re crying out why can’t they see
The restless fugue of pink and blue
In your identity
A lonesome shroud of dissonance settles in your skin
In your color-coded uniforms you’re wearing to fit in
Anxiety’s a little league and fear’s a locker room
Teenage suffocation in your body’s own cocoon
And I know it’s not easy
To shed your skin and be the woman
You were born to be
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4. |
Adrienne
03:13
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Adrienne, we’ve been at the bar since half past ten
I think I like you but I don’t know when
To let you know
Am I just a friend? I don’t want to overthink things yet
You know I’ve been alone since god knows when
And I want to let you in
But I stumbled on my tongue
Blamed it on the barrelled rum but I
Was only high on every word you said, Adrienne
And I’ve been wondering lately
How you’ve been
6 a.m., the morning after in your twin sized bed
How the sunlight danced in reverence
And I couldn’t bear to go
Soft-spoken, you said “I dreamed you were a poem I read,
So when you coming back to Burlington?”
I said I didn’t know
But I fumbled on my tongue
Blamed it on the barelled rum but I
Was only high on every word you said, Adrienne
And I’ve been wondering lately
How you’ve been
So Adrienne, would you let me in?
Cause I’d do it all again
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5. |
Watchdog
03:05
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Woodsmoke lingering on our clothes forgotten on the floor
Like fallen leaves covered by an early winter storm
When you fell into my life tenderly like the first snow
I think I’d like to learn to trust you
A little more
But my watchdog heart is sleeping by the backdoor
With one eye open, waiting for you to go
With the next snow
I woke in a rosy haze of alpine glow
My troubles from before frozen on the floor
Underneath a foot of snow
And I hope you know, I hope you know
That I want to learn to trust you a little more
And I’m glad that I let you in when you knocked on my door
But my watchdog heart is sleeping by the backdoor
With one eye open, waiting for you to go
When the weathervane blows
But my watchdog heart is sleeping by the backdoor
With one eye open, waiting for you to go
I hope you don’t
I hope you don’t
But my watchdog heart is sleeping by the back
I hope you know
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6. |
Canyon Moon
03:38
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[Mmmm] x 4
Come close to me by the cottonwood creek
Take me down to the river where the juncos sing
[Ooooo] x 4
Lay me down on the bottom of the canyon floor
You could sing me anything in those pretty words of yours
And I’d have all of you in the canyon moon
[Mmmm] x 4
Be near to me by the burning weeds
Open slow like a blossom on the sweet plum tree
[Ooooo] x 4
Lay me down on the bottom of the canyon floor
You could sing me anything in those pretty words of yours
And I’d have all of you in the canyon moon
[Mmmm] x 4
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7. |
San Francisco
03:29
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I’d drive to San Francisco, pick you a Santa Lucian rose
Down in the redwood valley where the nightshade grows
Lay me down in the dogwood, whisper my name like you used to do
And I’d say you haven’t changed much since I last saw you
Oh I know we’re getting old, getting old for these games
Buying time in the backseat of your Chevrolet
Singing ‘San Francisco, you’ll be seeing me soon’
Read me your favorite poem, something you think that I might like
Adrienne, I adore you – would you let me stay the night?
I’d kiss your hair in the morning, you’d say I don’t have to go
And you’d look so nice in your t-shirt making coffee on the stove
I know we’re getting old, we’re getting old for these games
Buying time in the half-light of our salad days
Singing ‘San Francisco, you’ll be seeing me soon’
Our loose limbs move like morning mist rolling through across the bay
Your eyes meet mine so slowly as we wake
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8. |
Rearview
05:49
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There’s not always someone to blame
There’s not always reasons to curse out your name
There’s not always a reason love leaves when the seasons change
No, there wasn’t a reason – you just woke up and didn’t feel the same
So I guess I’ll be leaving if we weren’t meant to be anyway
I’ll remember you fondly but I’ve gotta go my own way
On my own I’m free, I can love what he didn’t see:
The light in my eyes, the warmth in my smile
The love that I feel so fearlessly from the core of my heart
I’d give it all away, but not today
In the rearview I’m crying, but I think that I’ll be okay
When I let go, I’m finally free
I’m dreaming of dancing in lights of the city
Cause New York is calling me louder than you ever called me
I’ll be dancing alone with the girl who is perfect for me
In the mirror she smiles through her tears right back at me
Her green eyes are laughing and she’s stronger than she’s ever been
On her own, she’s free, she can love what he didn’t see:
The light in her eyes, the warmth in her smile
The love that she feels so fearlessly from the core of her crooked heart
She’d give it all away, but not today
In the rearview she’s laughing and I know that she’ll be okay
She’s already miles away
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Gemma Laurence Brunswick, Maine
Gemma Laurence is a queer indie folk artist from the coast of Maine, now based in Brooklyn. Her debut LP Crooked Heart came out in 2019, and her latest single "Adrienne" is out now.
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