1. |
How She Sings
03:10
|
|||
|
I got the sweetest song I ever made
But I got this voice like razor blades
I need you darlin’ to get it right
So why don’t you sing it with me tonight
I been hearing that same song play
Inside my head all day
Can’t tell now if my ears are ringin’
Or if it’s cartoon bluebirds singin'
A man might like a woman
For all sorts of things
For me it comes down
To how she sings
Just sittin' by myself pickin' my guitar
Got no idea now where you are
But if you'd FaceTime on the phone
I wouldn't have to do this on my own.
Maybe you remember me
I got a crooked face and knobby knees
Way too much hair everywhere
Not much to look at I agree
A man might like a woman
For all sorts of things
For me it comes down
To how she sings
Haven’t seen you for quite awhile
I think of you I always smile
I wrote a bunch of songs about you
I’m pretty sure you never knew
I got the sweetest song I ever made
But I got this voice like razor blades
I need you darlin’ to get it right
So why don’t you sing it with me tonight
A man might like a woman
For all sorts of things
For me it comes down
To how she sings
|
||||
2. |
Just Me In Love With You
03:54
|
|||
|
Got a heart that burns for you,
fillin' dark with all that light.
My whole world turns for you,
night and day, day and night
Now that fire’s running wild
Way too hot to fight.
So I just go round and round it wonderin’
where are you tonight?
Sometimes love is something
takes your breath away.
Just won’t give it back again
no matter what you say.
If the one you love don’t love you
nothing you can do.
Sometimes I wonder
if you even ever knew
that all my awkward foolishness
was just me in love with you.
Now I’m like a little bird
caught in a big whirlpool,
spinnin’, sinkin’, breathless
feelin’ like a fool
for fallin’ into torrents
I knew I couldn’t fight.
I just go round and round now wonderin’
where are you tonight?
Sometimes love is something
takes your breath away,
won’t give it back again
no matter what you say.
If the one you love don’t love you
nothing you can do.
Sometimes I wonder
if you even ever knew
that all my awkward foolishness
was just me in love with you.
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
Everybody loves you
once you’re dead
but what about while you’re here?
Well I’ve been around
for a good long time
and it seems pretty clear
no one’s gonna tell you how great you are
so let’s have another beer.
That won’t make this wacky world
any easier to take
it won’t clear up your pimples
or ease your last heartbreak
but it might help you laugh a little
if you can stay awake
while you’re waiting here for the nothin good
the world is gonna say
about you until you’re driving down
that last lost highway
if you want to hear the good stuff
be the hero and not the jerk
then dying’s your best bet my friend
always seems to work
yeah, everybody loves you
once you’re dead
they say just what you’d want to hear
only problem with that, my friend
you’re not still here
so my advice, get used to it
let’s have another beer.
and if you love somebody
go tell them that right now
doesn’t matter how you do it
find a way somehow
cause one thing you're forgetting
you might die before they do
and you’ll never get to say it
or hear them say it back to you.
bye bye John Prine I loved you
I’m pretty sure you loved me, too
|
||||
4. |
I Mean Just Sometimes
05:59
|
|||
|
sometimes I see behind your eyes
a room that’s sad and gray
a place you just end up in
for an hour or a day
sometimes I wish you’d let
take that room away
or let me come in with you
where I could stay a while
still and silent, just like you
another clock without a dial
I'd just sit there by your side
keep trying to make you smile
I’m not saying I’m in love with you
no need to be afraid
or that you need somebody with you
just to tolerate that shade
it’s just I have a room like that
where I’m sometimes sent to stay
I think if a friend were with me there
just sitting by my side
it would feel more like a mother’s womb
before I learned to cry
than like a stony, solemn tomb
and I’ve already died.
Just sometimes, I mean,
Just sometimes, for a little while
If you let me sit with you
I think you’d feel more like a child
trying to soothe her wrangled nerves
than a prisoner on trial.
I guess there’s lots of people now
all forced to stay apart
in sad, gray rooms just like ours
waiting for time to restart
and I think that we could help them
to keep a peaceful heart
sometimes, I mean just sometimes
we could calm their fear
show them how to wait it out
a week, a month, a year
and how much brighter that gray room feels
when you know a friend is near
|
||||
5. |
Good Times
03:48
|
|||
|
Good times and bum times,
I've seen them all and, my dear,
I'm still here.
Plush velvet sometimes,
Sometimes just pretzels and beer,
But I'm here.
I've stuffed the dailies
In my shoes.
Strummed ukuleles,
Sung the blues,
Seen all my dreams disappear,
But I'm here.
Now this new virus
is only desirous
of keeping me
home for a year
says it so novel
I need to grovel
locked in my hovel
in fear
stock market crashes
money to ashes
email and texts
instead of handshakes and sex
self-isolation
for the duration
without resistance
I need social distance
it’s clear
but I’m here.
Only a moron
would still call it Wuhan
now that it’s everywhere
why not Seattle
Desmoines or Racine
Mineloa or Abeline
anyplace else
I’ve never seen
cause I’m here
I’m still here.
Remember when
a case of corona
was something
to share with friends?
Maybe by fall
I'll invite you all
to tip back
a bottle again
I've run the gamut.
A to Z.
Three cheers and dammit,
C'est la vie.
La vie, this life, it's still lovely, my dear,
Cause I'm here.
I'm still here!
|
||||
6. |
Pull Together
02:01
|
|||
|
Though we can’t come together
Let’s not falll apart
Stay strong in your spirit
Keep peace in your heart
Think first now of others
Sisters and brothers
If we all pull together
We can make a new start
Love isn’t something
Just for family and friend
It’s not a resource
Too precious to spend
Share yours with others
Sisters and brothers
You’ll always get to borrow
More than you lend.
Stay strong in your spirit
Keep peace in your heart
We’re all in this together
So let’s each do our part
Love’s not a resource
Too precious to spend
Share yours with others
Sisters and brothers
And we'll all come together
When this comes to end.
|
||||
paul kameen Olympia, Washington
Paul is a poet, essayist, and scholar who started writing songs, kind of out of the blue, about six years ago. You can find
all of his work for free on his website (paulkameen.com) or at cost on Amazon.
He was recently invited to share his "music story" on a website devoted to such stories. Here is the link:
mysoundposter.blog/singing-to-survive-paul-kameen/
... more
If you like paul kameen, you may also like:
Irish singer-songwriter Oisin Leech's acoustic folk music is characterized by its muted beauty and intimate, solitary quality.
go to album
The haunting new record from Canadian folk artist Avi C. Engel bridges old and new traditions with a minimalist approach.
go to album
Here in the Pitch
by Jessica Pratt
On her fourth album, Jessica Pratt blends up 60s pop and bossa nova into a spooky mix of soft psychedelia.
go to album
Great Loveday Wonder : The Collected Demo Recordings
by Billy Childish / William Loveday Intention
From the always-great label Tompkins Square comes two-dozen plus demos from alt legend Billy Childish.
go to album
Darkness begins to creep into the corners on the latest from Itasca.
go to album
From Cork, Ireland, Lewis Barfoot writes mystic, majestic songs derived from regional folk, with an ambient music aura.
go to album
Dakota Blue Moon
by Jackson Harden
Gorgeous acoustic Americana from North Carolina, stripped-back and sublime.
go to album
