PAINTING SONG: Written for my sister-in-law, the artist Susan Micklem. A dulcimer version of a song Concetta and I performed and recorded when we were both in my band, Rough Magic.
lyrics
Painting Song
Word and Music: Cornelius Eady
There’s a sea in a bottle
There are pigs in the sky
There are clouds where your lungs were,
But don’t ask me why
You just do what you have to
You just see what you see.
Scratch your head, if you want to,
Makes no difference to me.
I’m unscrambling my head,
Painting, painting
Decoding what the light just said,
Painting, painting
Pushing breath through my brush
Filling in the blanks, as we must.
Maybe you’d like a postcard,
Or a slap on the back.
You made the wrong turn, buddy,
Your trains on the wrong track.
You keep looking for Whistler,
You get ghouls at the mall.
A woman’s accusations,
Holy warts, and all.
I’m unscrambling my head,
Painting, painting
Decoding what the light just said,
Painting, Painting
Pushing breath through my brush
Filling in the blanks, as we must.
You just do what you have to
You just see what you see.
Scratch your head, if you want to,
It’s just music, to me.
credits
from DECEMBER,
released December 20, 2018
CA: Vocal & Violin
CE: Acoustic Guitar, Mountain Dulcimer, Toy Piano & Vocal
w/ Pablo Fazio, Bass, Drums & Keyboards.
Cornelius Eady is the author of 8 books of poetry, lives in NYC and is the co-founder of Cave Canem. The band Rough Magic came out of the sessions for his CD/Chapbook BOOK OF HOOKS. (Kattywompus Press, Jan. 2013)
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