Lyrics
Lyrics
A BUCKET OF WATER
By Rae Hering
A bucket of water is an ocean to an ant,
A drink to the elephant
And home to a fish.
A bucket of water is a well, and I make my wish.
The point of my parable is purely point of view,
To some it’s Atlantic big,
Others down it in a swig,
Oh can you feel it in your fins?
A bucket of water is, well, anything you wish.
A bucket of water is a simple thing, I know.
But look a little closer and see
Untold possibilities,
A bucket of water is…
A bucket of water is an ocean to an ant,
A drink to the elephant
And home to a fish,
And as for my wishing well wish,
Well I’ve got plenty on my list.
A bucket of water’s never seemed so deep,
Has never seemed so deep,
Has never seemed so deep to me.
A COUPLE OF KIDS
By Rae Hering
Since we were little kids
You know I always did,
You know I always liked you.
I recall the day we met
You gave me half of your sandwich
What a gentleman you were that day.
In school we’d sit side by side
Passin’ notes as Teacher passes by,
Yeah, we were buddies.
Cuz in our world of school yard blues
Where girls twirl and boys destroy their shoes
We had each other.
Now we’re sittin’ like a couple of kids in the middle of science class.
Try not to look I you, you’ll only make me laugh.
If this isn’t the definition of Happiness
What is? Tell me, what is?
You’d reel me in to all your plans
I’d sigh but take you by the hand
We always had so much fun.
A walk to school was an Odyssey,
Lunchtime was a Jubilee,
To you, boredom meant adventure.
Now I recall when you asked me out
I realized things were different now,
You got kinda cute.
Then came all those school dances,
Movie theaters, taking chances,
We grew a little romance.
Now we’re stittin’ like a couple of kids gettin’ our first date kicks
Try not to look at you, you’ll kiss me on the lips.
If this isn’t the definition of Happiness
What is? Tell me, what is?
Time passed, we outgrew
Our clothes, our cliques, our tastes in music, too
But you’ll always fit.
You fit like my favorite T-Shirt does
Faded over time just like our love
But you always feel good.
Now we’re sittin’ like a couple of kids that are finally all grown up,
Try not to look at you, sometimes it’s just too much.
You gave me my definition of Happiness
Old friend, good to see you again,
Old friend, good to see you again.
We’re just a couple of kids.
AN AVERAGE SONG
By Rae Hering
I wish being average were in style,
I wear it all the time,
When one size fits ‘em all
It’s not exactly what I’d call fashionable.
Oh just listen to me ramble,
I socially unravel
When party guests look deluxe,
I feel like a ragamuffin!
With rips for every worry
And patches on my pride
My poor party dress
Wouldn’t impress the living room fly.
I wish being average were in style,
Just cut from the same cloth,
Another itchy knit,
The pattern of monotony’s the toughest to unstitch!
I don’t own a suite that suits me,
I’m no couture beauty,
I haven’t got that heiress air to
Buy more clothes than she can wear!
And when that twinkling starlet’s
Gown reflects her fame
My poor party dress
Tries her best to shine the same.
I wish being average were in style,
Oh I wish being average were in style,
A wardrobe all worn out
Would instantly be in!
My versatile would beguile,
My red carpet would run for miles,
I’d be trendy by the piles
If average were in style.
AVE MARIA
Music by Rae Hering
Lyrics are a traditional Catholic prayer
Ave Maria gratia plena
Dominus tecum
Ave Maria gracia plena
Dominus tecum
Benedicta
Tu in mulierbus
Et benedictus
Fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis
Ora pro nobis
Ora pro nobis
Ora, ora pro nobis
Peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae
Ora pro nobis
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae
Ora pro nobis
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae
Ave Maria
Amen
BIG OLD MONSTER
By Rae Hering
Me oh, my oh!
Look at you, you are a big, old, hairy,
Giant, scary-type of monster, and mean!
Help me, help me!
Is that what you would expect to hear
From such a girl the size of your thumb,
So small that
I can climb up
Top your shoulder and you would not know
I’m by your ear as I gently whisper,
I’m not gonna give up,
Gonna giveup, never ever
Will I let some bully
Push me around.
I’m not gonna give up,
Gonna give up, you can’t make me
Cuz I may not be big but,
I’ll wear ya down.
Whoopsie daisy,
Did I make a monster mad? My bad,
I really shouldn’t have so much darned fun
Watching you
Go all crazy
Hearing voices in your head, oh when oh will it stop?
Not until you drop cuz
CHORUS
BLUE WHALE CITY
By Rae Hering
We’re two fish of a fin on a window sill,
Looking out on Industrial Avenue.
Fac’try disastaries purge out chemical burp,
The scenery’s an eye sore, but it’s the smell that hurts.
Two fish takin’ a risky casualness on a ledge,
Our goldfish bowl is on the edge of
Digestion in the belly of a Blue Whale City,
It could swallow us whole.
Oblivious puffy little buggy-eyed guppies are
Wantin’ to know
Why the sky has a blow hole.
Strange fish populace making precarious racket
And everyone else is everyone else’s traffic.
Get out of my way!
But, our own seashell-sized home is a strangely warm crevice
Looking out into the bowels of the
Loneliest belly of a Blue Whale City,
It could swallow us whole.
Bottom-feeder cheaters, scrappy low-life creatures are
Catchin’ on slow.
There sayin’ “Geez, the seabed seems to be short
A few feet, or somethin’
I hardly have room to breathe!”
Oblivious puffy little buggy-eyed guppies are
Wantin’ to know
Why the sky has a blow hole.
BLURRY BODIES
By Rae Hering
Blurry bodies of waiters pass against the wall,
Thank God none of them notice I’m not
Ordering their food.
I’m non-discriminate, background-poised,
Smudge on the countertop.
Two, three, four conversations like an audible collage
Fill in the empty seat in front of me
Like a mirage.
I’m undistinguished as one man’s voice
In the diner din.
I remember feeling a warm seat
Huddled into this booth from bitter days like these.
But since the hospital something’s been lost,
My hands are numb indoors,
My breath no longer shows up with the frost….
My blurry memory’s slipping with my slumping sight.
Even this restaurant’s resisting
To solidify.
I’m un-depictable as this old
Diner’s memory of me.
BRUISE ON THE BRAIN
By Rae Hering
There’s a bruise on my brain,
It’s purplish-green.
What a gorgeous color scheme in my head,
My cranium capillaries bled.
There’s a heartbeat to pain,
A muse in the vein.
She splays surging sparks
And excites my poor heart,
Such a pulse has resurrected the dead,
My cranium capillaries bled.
Doctor, if you could see
The things I’m hallucinating
Even you’d recommend
I linger longer in this dream.
Bruise on the brain,
Life’s satin stain.
A throbbing, pounding, aching caress,
My cranium capillaries bled all over!
CHORUS
CANDY AISLE
By Rae Hering and Jonathan Morse
Is that Brooke? Maybe Megan?
Life’s sweet when you’re double dipping.
You say you want a one forever,
For better or worse, but it’s worse if there’s better…
Yeah, Mama said don’t settle for less,
There’s a whole world waiting for you,
Check out too soon and you may regret what you left.
I can see your bowl cut,
JC Penny getup,
Waffling like a kid in the candy aisle,
Pocket full of small change,
Zebra Stripe or Bubble Tape,
Ain’t life’s little choices so damn hard?
Girl you got an office, it’s got a view,
But you keep looking out for something new.
You’ll say it’s the workload, maybe the pay,
Did your benies not come in a chocolate egg?
Yeah, Daddy said take what you deserve,
There’s a whole world waiting for you,
Fill up your cart with all of life’s dessert.
Hey you with the scrunchie,
Trying to be grungy,
Whining like a kid in the candy aisle,
Oh, you know they’ll give in,
Passion fruit lemon twist, guava grape bliss,
Ain’t life’s little choices so damn hard?
Ain’t life’s little choices so damn hard?
There’s a whole world waiting for you,
Ain’t life’s little choices just so hard?
There’s a whole world waiting for you.
Yeah, I see your bowl cut,
JC Penny getup,
Waffling like a kid in the candy aisle.
Hey you with the scrunchie,
Trying to be grungy,
Whining like a kid in the candy aisle.
CANYON
By Rae Hering and Jonathan Morse
We walk the line of fracture and fault,
Pretending it’s not there as it tears us apart.
We choose our explanations, carry on with our lives,
Silent conversation fills our minds.
That’s all it took,
A little crack in the ground,
Now take a look
At what’s between us now.
That’s all it took,
A little crack in the ground we stand on.
We’re on two sides of the canyon,
Two sides of the canyon,
Two sides of the canyon,
With only echoes, echoes in between.
We’ve cut away our lives, our borders,
I stood mine and you stood yours.
The river that connects us is the one that divides,
Can we live with the truth we can’t let die?
That’s all it took,
A little crack in the ground,
Now take a look
At what’s between us now.
That’s all it took,
A little crack in the ground we stand on.
CHORUS
I want to run to you,
I want to run to you.
CHORUS
CLOSER TO ME
By Rae Hering
At first I saw the beam on Your back,
Just a passerby with nosy neck.
I casually wondered what You did to die,
I turned to leave when authorities grabbed my side
And oh even this loner
Could see the burden put upon Your shoulders.
They pushed and pulled me closer and closer…
Come closer to me,
Come closer to me.
Is that You, Lord? I can’t hide,
I’m the one who cared less if You died,
Now I see You did it to be
Closer to me.
I gave the word and nailed You to the cross,
Was just doing my job on the hilltop.
All I saw was a low life in line to die,
I’d gladly ensure it as I pierced Your side
And oh even this soldier
Could feel the mercy in Your blood spill over.
They lowered You down closer and closer…
Come closer to me,
Come closer to me.
Is that You, Lord? I can’t hide,
I’m the one who made sure that You died,
Now I see You did it to be
Closer to me.
It was only right to lay You in the tomb,
But how could You die? I trusted you.
Oh, even this mourner
Couldn’t see beyond the closing of a boulder.
But the Rising Son was getting closer and closer…
Come closer to me,
Come closer to me.
Is that You, Lord? I can’t hide,
I’m the one who lost faith when You died,
Now I see You did it to be
Closer to me.
Now I see You did it to be
Closer to me.
DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL
By Rae Hering
I’m gonna make you love me,
We’re gonna build a castle,
You’re gonna kiss and hug me
When you see I’m special.
Cuz you can be my hero
And save my whole wide world,
I’m gonna make you love me
Like I’m Daddy’s little girl.
When it rains and thunders
You’ll be at my pillow
You’ll tell me there’s no monsters
Rattling my window
So come and light my candle,
Light my whole wide world,
I’m gonna make you love me
Like I’m Daddy’s little girl.
Yes, I’m gonna make you love me
Cuz I’m Daddy’s little girl.
DON’T LEAVE ME HERE
By Rae Hering
Don’t leave me here.
Don’t leave me here.
Of all places,
This place plays on my fears,
Don’t leave me here.
I can still hear
Your voice, the voice
That let me disappear.
Don’t leave me inside the unknown,
Don’t leave me here alone.
Did you know dear
That as you sleep
I’m here listening
To your heart beat?
And when you wake, dear
I am with your every pace,
I am your shadow,
Your empty space.
That’s where you left me
Right by your side
To carry out
This parallel life
Don’t leave me here.
Don’t leave me here.
Of all places
This place plays on my fears,
Don’t leave me here.
I can still hear
Your voice, the voice
That let me disappear.
Don’t leave me inside the unknown.
EARTHQUAKE
By Rae Hering and Laura Vance
I’m standing in the wake of an earthquake,
It shook me when it took you away,
A momentary dream, now forgotten memory
I can’t place.
It could be heavy if I let it crush me so
Why go remembering what wasn’t meant to be?
I’m falling out of love that never was,
Pieces of you, pieces of me, pieces of us,
Feeling the tremors of
Words we’ve left unspoken, things we’ve left undone.
Standing in the wake of an earthquake,
So still as time marches on,
There’s a heartbeat inside, it tells me I’m alive,
Yet the sun shines on rubble even after you’re gone.
CHORUS
It could be heavy if I let it crush me so,
Why go remembering what wasn’t meant to be?
It could be heavy if I let it crush me so,
Why go remembering what wasn’t meant to be?
I’m falling out of love that never was,
Feeling the tremors of us,
Pieces of you, pieces of me, pieces of,
Words we’ve left unspoken, things we’ve left undone.
ENDLESS
By Rae Hering and Jonathan Morse
There you go chasing time, Alice.
Trying to get ahead in life, frantic.
I guess you didn’t know where the rabbit hole might go.
Now you’re running through a world of mazes.
It’s not easy moving forward, face it,
You’re on your knees at a wall and all you see are limits.
You are endless
So don’t stop now,
Don’t stop now.
You are endless
So don’t stop now,
Don’t stop now.
Still out without a plan, too bad.
Hungry heart, empty hands, so sad.
Telling yourself you’re gonna fail, can’t do this anymore.
CHORUS
Tick tock, tick tock
Tick tock, tick tock
Tick tock, tick tock
You have all the time you need.
Alice, stand and see.
CHORUS
ETHEREAL CONVENTION
By Rae Hering
In a clash of space and time
Between the break of life and the end of the line,
I’ve heard the certainty’s serene,
Somewhat sobering,
But mostly somewhere in between.
Save a seat for me.
Broken wing, permanent.
That’s the life of self-guided attempts
At winging it, what’s up is up,
What’s down is down,
What’s stuck is stuck on earthly ground.
Save a seat for me.
Cuz I’m told there’s an ethereal
Convention being held beyond my mind’s
Certainty of things that can’t be
Bound by space and time.
And those who know the unknown yet
Will talk and talk themselves well into timelessness,
The maps they chart are limitless.
Oh how they feel weightlessness,
The feeling was profound,
Well, up until I came back down.
Save a seat for me.
Cuz I’m told there’s an ethereal
Convention being held beyond my mind’s
Power to perceive what can’t be
Bound by space and time.
FALLING TO ME
By Rae Hering and Laura Vance
I can’t speak for you
But when I speak I tell the truth,
I think I’m in love with you.
Sometimes I’m wrong but if I’m right,
I wish I may, I wish we might
Fly to the moon.
Up, up, away we go, will we stop, I don’t know,
Gravity’s pulling the strings.
Higher and higher, the heavens get heavier,
Why does flying feel like falling to me?
Rockabye baby where the wind blows,
I can’t help but go where it goes,
Even if it’s in and out of love.
Some things unspoken, like goodbye;
Excuses that I hide behind
All fall down when I’m with you.
CHORUS
Up, up, away we go, will we stop, I don’t know,
Gravity’s pulling the strings.
Higher and higher, the heavens get heavier,
Higher and higher, the heavens get heavier,
Higher and higher, the heavens get heavier,
Why does flying feel like falling to me?
HAPLESS HEART
By Rae Hering
I don’t know you anymore,
Mouth shut, feet stuck to the floor,
When your hapless heart walked out the door
I just stood there
Like a lifeless life-sized doll
Staring down her dollhouse hall,
All dolled up and ready for the ball,
I don’t know you anymore.
You’ve dressed me in your compliments,
Now you’ve left without confidence.
I feel so completely played with,
Where to start? You hapless heart.
I’ve been so totally toyed with,
So toyed with,
You hapless heart.
So the hours on my clock tick tick,
The pacing of my heels click click,
Sadness started smaller than a pin prick,
How it grows and grows
But the birdies still tweet tweet
And workers work and cars beep beep,
And your hapless heart still beats and beats
I just don’t know it anymore.
I feel so completely played with,
Where to start? You hapless heart.
I’ve been so totally toyed with.
You’ve tended to my disrepair,
Now you won’t even brush my hair.
Oh, oh, oh you hapless heart.
Oh, oh, oh you hapless heart.
CHORUS
HEARTBREAK HANG-UP
By Rae Hering
You lie on the bed,
Staring at what’s left
Of life as you knew it.
Can’t even imagine
Moving from this mansion
Of disappointment.
Love left without a word,
Nothing to ensure
That it was all worth it.
Forget getting any sleep,
An angry mob of thoughts
Is running through your streets.
So you got a heartbreak hang-up,
The kind that kills so close,
But I don’t want to see you hang up those hopes.
Heartbreak hang-up. .
Each day, facing all your friends,
Conversation can
Be cruel as silence.
Sympathy just taunts you,
Everybody wants you
To be you again.
But no, a clown is in your place,
The smile on it’s face
Will have a laugh or two,
Then you go home all alone,
That angry mob of thoughts
Is breaking down your door. (Bang! Bang!)
So you got a heartbreak hang-up,
The kind that kills so close,
But I don’t want to see you hang up those hopes.
One of these sleepless nights you’ll wake up
And see that plans were made to change,
But I know right now your mind is made up
To have a heartbreak hang-up.
So you got a heartbreak hang-up, (heartbreak hang-up)
But I don’t want to see you hang up those hopes, (heartbreak hang-up)
One of these sleepless nights you’ll wake up
And see that plans were made to change,
But I know right now your mind is made up
To have a heartbreak hang-up.
Heartbreak hang-up,
Heartbreak hang-up.
Heartbreak hang-up,
Heartbreak hang-up.
HOW THE WIND BLOWS
By Rae Hering and Jonathan Morse
Speak softly, dear,
Just enough so I can barely hear.
Cuz I don’t care to know what you’re gonna say.
And with the wind in your hair
You look at me like some careless affair.
I’m not mad, cuz when you leave
That’ll be easier to believe.
Oh…guess you gotta go…
Oh…guess you gotta go,
Guess that’s how the wind blows.
You’ve had me high in the air
My faith just a string keeping me there
We both know a wind is not a wind if it stays.
I loved the way you move
Why’d you have to move me too?
You blew me away, guess you’re not gonna stay around
To gently let me down.
CHORUS
HUM DIDDLE
By Rae Hering
You like the shade and I like the sun,
Find it kinda hard to choose just one,
So if we sit by the line of the shade of the tree,
Happy is you and happy is me.
So we’re pickin’ up our picnic every half an hour
So you can shield from the sun and I can bask in its power,
And we’re laughing at ourselves and the way this world turns,
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle,
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle.
You’ll say yes and I’ll say no,
You’ll say stop and I’ll say go
If it seems we’re caught in a rotten pickle
Let’s pick up and move to the middle.
Now we’re pickin’ up our picnic every half an hour
So you can shield from the sun and I can bask in its power,
And we’re laughing at ourselves and the way this world turns,
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle,
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle.
You’ll say what and I’ll say why
You’ll turn left and I’ll turn right
And if it seems we’re caught in opposite riddles let’s
Pick up and move to the middle.
Now we’re pickin’ up our picnic every half an hour
So you can shield from the sun and I can bask in its power,
And we’re laughing at ourselves and the way this world turns,
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle,
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle.
You like the shade and I like the sun,
Find it kinda hard to choose just one,
So if we sit by the line of the shade of the tree,
Happy is you and happy is me.
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle,
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle,
Oh hum diddle oh hum diddle.
THE INFECTIOUS WORLD
By Rae Hering
In the laboratory of your private sanctum
You concoct your stories with the
Test tubes of precision, but
Faulty decisions so
Endless revisions cuz
Scientific vision must abide inside the human mind,
Does it hurt your experiments as much as your pride?
You’re imperfect and you know it
And though you try
Whiteout never looks the same.
And though you won’t show it
It’s in your rough drafts,
You’re scribbling all over your…
The infectious world is a little scary.
So in your laboratory you will
Sanitize your insides
As if you could choose to
Become-come immune to
The infectious, un-relentless world
Abides inside your human mind.
Does it hurt your experiments as much as your pride?
CHORUS
Answers are hard to distinguish
Coming from a presumptuous voice.
Now, science resists presumptuousness
But it really has no choice.
No it really has no choice cuz
CHORUS
INFINITY
By Rae Hering
Take me where my head stops thinking,
Where I am floating, I am sinking
At once, take me at once.
Take me where the world is fading away
Like sidewalk chalk on a rainy day,
Take me away, take me away,
And if you feel my hesitation
Pay it no mind,
It’s just the shadow of a limitation
I’m leaving behind
I am moving into
You are moving into me,
I am moving into
You are moving into me,
We are unfinished,
We are unfathomed,
We are infinity.
And in this pool of meditation
Is emptiness and our elation
And I will be still.
Cuz I’ve known nothing as daring
As shedding this layer of skin and sharing
Your life like it was my own, it was my own.
And if you feel my hesitation
Pay it no mind,
It’s just the shadow of a limitation
I’m leaving behind
CHORUS
Infinity, take me to infinity, infinity.
CHORUS
IT’S ALRIGHT
By Rae Hering, Jonathan Morse and Jimmy Borja
If my eyes were mirrors
Would it bring you nearer,
Would you see what you want to see?
If my eyes could show you
What your heart has been thru
Would you stay or would you look away?
No use fighting,
Stop your hiding,
You can’t escape it
But you can face it.
It’s alright, it’s alright,
It’s alright, it’s alright.
The trials and the triumphs,
The song and the silence,
It’s all a part of who we are
Lift your eyes and see
Through the brokenness there’s beauty,
Don’t be afraid, to be afraid.
No use fighting,
Stop your hiding,
You can’t escape it
But you can face it.
CHORUS
Look into my eyes
I am your reflection.
CHORUS
LADY LUNA
By Rae Hering
Moon glow washed the river glossy
Below her un-appareled body.
She whispered “are you with me
In this sleeping city?”
The sky is lady luna’s blanket
But tonight the moon is shiny naked.
Her yellow hello kissed me,
Woke my inner city.
You see the moon, she coaxed out
My timid skinny dipper,
We went bathing in the river,
My moonstruck, reckless
Shrieks of laughter flew
All the way to the shiny naked moon.
Every man and every woman
Is born atop the city ruins.
River, won’t you give me
Life unto my city?
CHORUS
Moon glow, a timeless revelator.
Oh, I know, I’ve cradled in her craters.
LEAKY UMBRELLA
By Rae Hering
It’s looking dismal in this,
With every drizzle in this,
It’s looking dismal in this world
With a leaky umbrella,
How I loved being that someone to protect.
How promises seem effortless until they must be kept.
With every rip, and drip, I feel the neglect
Oh, just waiting over-looked and simply put quite under dressed.
Oh! What a mess!
Why does the rain tend to remember
What I’d much rather forget? (All of it)
Drip by drip
The rain remembers all of it.
It never tells me how it knows.
Wonder if it’s rained inside my head
Since long ago.
What does the rain know of this,
Wash wash away all of this,
What does the rain know of this world? World!
And it’s leaky umbrellas?
Has the rain faked through a smile when upset?
Has it ever clung to promises that fade into regret?
Oh! Could have guessed
That the rain, it would remember
What we’d all like to forget. (Drip, drip, drip)
Drip by drip
The rain remembers all of it.
It never tells us how it knows.
Wonder if it’s rained inside our heads
Since long ago.
When life’s a flood
Let your umbrella fold
Cuz it’s looking just a little impractical!
CHORUS
LIKE A CROW
By Rae Hering
It’s seven degree below
The sanity level.
Those hibernating home-bound souls
Shiver for shelter.
Snowy street, dormant lives,
Weary feet, brave the ice,
We chip away our health.
It’s cold, it’s cold! My toes are froze
But yours seem empowered, they seem empowered.
What’s uncomfortable is raw.
Like a crow, a crow
You caw, you caw.
The dead of the night’s your animal.
Oh, like a crow.
You were made from the colorings of cold
Like a crow.
You have walked in the shadow of the ice and snow
And you caw like a crow.
Maintaining life so far below
The sanity level
Makes you go irrational,
Makes you like a crow.
Snowy thoughts, dormant mind,
Weary will, hard as ice.
We numb away our health.
It’s cold, it’s cold! My toes are froze
But yours seem empowered, they seem empowered.
Oh, like a crow.
You were made from the colorings of cold
Like a crow.
You have walked in the shadow of the ice and snow
And you caw…
You were made as the brethren of cold
Like a crow.
You have walked in the company of ice and snow
And you caw like a crow.
LITTLE SCARED
By Rae Hering
The graveyard flower quivers in
What seems to be a thin
And underneath the skin
Pass of air, air.
From the pits of life unfair
Their contents seem to stare
Complacently, but secretly are
Envious of those with breath.
The Dead have left their breath
Wandering upstairs
Making little flowers scared!
Lovely, retreat within our decay,
Burrow into our bount’less bouquet.
Carcasses push through the earth,
They rip her roots from the dirt,
They’ll sacrifice a flower’s life
For the smell of something nice.
The Dead have left their lives
Wandering upstairs,
Making little humans scared!
LOVE ME AS BEST YOU CAN
By Rae Hering
Love me as best you can.
If that’s all you got, I’ll understand.
I won’t ask questions
Or offer confessions,
I have but one demand. Oh…
Love me as best you can.
You may not be who I imagine.
But I’d compromise
For a pretty disguise,
Who doesn’t now and then? Oh…
Just don’t complicate our tune.
We don’t need fanfare, just a room.
Not looking for fireworks,
They’ll only getchya hurt,
Our little spark will do.
Our motives are well worn out.
Let’s toss them aside with pain and doubt.
And can’t we just hang around
This water hole we found
In the midst of the drought? Oh…
So love me as best you can.
I can’t be wishing of someday when.
Call me opportunistic,
I’m just realistic,
Why should we wait for a godsend?
When here you are, here I am.
Love me as best you can!
LOVE STRUCK ODYSSEY
By Rae Hering
Burning like the fate of an astral rock,
Nervous Destructress making wide-eyed astronauts.
Gravity, oh gravity is pulling.
She had three-tenths of a second…
Three-tenths of a second to change her course,
Sailing through the cosmos with cold eternal force.
Her impulse attraction to gravity
Made contact, her impact on a love struck odyssey.
Gravity, oh gravity is pulling.
She had three-tenths of a second to make up her mind.
Love struck odyssey!
Astrologically!
CHORUS
Shuddering in the after-shock,
She’s glowing red with embarrassment
Cuz love will make you fall, you make you fall!
CHORUS
LOVER BE SANE
By Rae Hering
Don’t call my name, I’ll only hear you,
Don’t search in vain, I’ll only appear to you.
And don’t pull me close, I’m too tired,
You’ll only provoke a love we had hoped to retire.
Lover be sane
Don’t rattle this cage.
Cuz the tiger will either be wild or trained
But the tiger will never be tame.
When our romance was purring
Every kiss made danger’s hiss more alluring.
But now we are caught pointlessly pacing.
Here we are trapped, but my heart won’t hold back from racing.
Lover be sane
Don’t rattle this cage.
Cuz the tiger will either be wild or trained
But the tiger will never be,
Taming the past into theory,
Please do not ask these lover’s last queries.
You’re clutching the cage, you’re taunting the uproar.
Don’t say my name, I’ll only surrender.
Lover be sane
Don’t rattle this cage.
CHORUS
MAMMA, DON’T CRY
By Rae Hering
Mamma, don’t cry, don’t cry for me.
I know it breaks your heart that I don’t believe
But I’ll be alright even for eternity,
Mamma, don’t cry for me.
I said so long and set my sail for sea
I told my soul there’s nothing more than west and east.
Didn’t try to find a sense of peace
I figured I’m not hiding so someday it’ll find me
But Mamma, you don’t seem satisfied with that
May not be the straight and narrow, but it’s a path.
I’m leaving all the well-known facts
To navigate the meaning of staying intact.
CHORUS
When Sky met its Horizon there was Love
For now I’ll have to settle for the sinking sun.
If my soul is like the white, white dove
I’ll reach my land but until then I haven’t gone far enough,
So Mamma, there’s no telling which way I’ll go,
But I don’t have to tell you what you’ve always known.
You won’t say a thing but what you’re thinking shows,
I’m changing with the winds and I’m sinking like a stone.
CHORUS
Mamma, don’t cry, don’t cry for me.
Life is only certain in its uncertainties
And one of them just happens to be
On your family tree.
CHORUS
THE MERCHANT’S HYMN
By Rae Hering and Jonathan Morse
There I was
Looking for one plus once
In a lifetime love,
Deep as the sea, patient as time,
Seek and ye shall find.
Then there you were
Pressing my palm to yours,
We felt the precious pearl
There in our hands,
Faith is the tide
That pulls seekers side by side.
Yes, I am willing ,
I will be daring,
I dare to give all that I am.
I am not worthy,
No, I’m not deserving
Unless I give all that I have,
So here’s all I have,
Blessed be the pearl in our hands.
If I were
A merchant who’s sailed the world,
Lucky to find a rare treasure like this
I’d wager my whole life
On the pearl that’s far beyond profit or price.
CHORUS
MISTER MISTER
By Rae Hering
Hey Mister Mister I’m talkin’ to you.
With that hat in your eyes and your heart in your shoes
You look like a lad whose luck could improve.
Well, luck is a lady and she wants to be wooed.
So touch me, tell me, do I look nice?
I’ll be the charm on your arm, be the kiss upon your dice.
Now all that I need is a “how do you do?”
Cuz hey! Mister Mister, I’m talkin’ to you.
Oo, it’s a kitschy kinda rendezvous,
Itchy gitchy giddy ga-ga goo,
Gotta get me get me some of you.
So let’s get acquainted, do ya own or ya rent?
Are you into Italian? Ya like current events?
Well aren’t you in luck Mister, with me you can’t loose
Cuz I’m fresher than your pesto and as new as the News!
So tease me, please me, tell me I’m sweet.
I’ll be your spy, third eye, your dirty little secret.
So take your hat off, let your heart laces loose,
Cuz hey! Mister Mister I’m talkin’ to you.
CHORUS
Hey Mister Mister come on out don’t be shy,
Don’t let this opportunity pass you by,
Luck is a lady and she’s batting her eyes!
Oo, singin’ la de da de da de do
Stomp, clap clap, rat-a-tat tat
Take your hat off, let your heart laces loose!
CHORUS
THE MUSIKAN
By Rae Hering
Life is hum-drum so I bang my drum.
Rhythmic tantric isn’t life, it’s fun.
And when my friends call me dumb
There’s drums, drums, drums, drums, drums.
Cool kids are nasty so I play my keys.
I can’t wait ‘til I am great, they’ll be sorry.
And when my friends call me geek
There’s keys, keys, keys, keys, keys.
Boyfriend-wishing so I strum my strings.
Sounds as good or better than romance things.
And when my friends call me single
There’s strings and I might sing a little, singin’…
NATURAL DISASTER
By Rae Hering and Jonathan Morse
I’m in a head space, tonight, erase,
All these thoughts.
Fix me up with your pick-me-Uptown’s
Where I wanna get lost.
Take me out like a tornado,
I wanna go faster, faster,
You and I don’t have to try,
We’re a natural disaster.
Oh, I know better
But you got something, you got something I like
Oh, nothing matters
Cuz you got something, you got something I like
Oh, I know better
But you got something, you got something I like
The way you take me faster, faster,
We’re a natural disaster.
We’re in the mood to undo, let’s move,
Making it our mission
To burn down this town, fill ‘er up,
Drown all my inhibition.
Wash me out like a hurrican,
I wanna go faster, faster,
You and I don’t have to try,
We’re a natural disaster.
CHORUS
Don’t wanna think about it
Till the morning, till the morning,
Just gotta get it out
Till the morning, till the morning,
Don’t wanna think about it
Till the morning, till the morning
I wanna go faster, faster,
You and I don’t have to try,
We’re a natural disaster.
CHORUS
NAVIGATOR/AVIATOR
By Rae Hering
If you’ll be my navigator
I can be your aviator
And we’ll go taking off.
Let me be your instigator,
You can be my regulator
And we’ll get good and lost
Cuz I’m in the mood to
Burn up some altitude
And turn up some place I never heard of.
You’ve got that cool, calm
Attitude for latitude,
As long as you know A to B
Then in between is up to me!
If you’ll be my navigator
I can be your aviator
And we’ll go taking off,
Just the two of us.
Let me be your instigator ,
You can be my regulator
And when we’re good and lost ,
We’ll just laugh it off.
Bum ba dum ba dum…
You could use a little more adventure
And I could learn to slow down.
Two misfits who somehow fit together,
Now we’re going, going, gone!
We’re gone.
I’ll bring the passion,
You’ll keep us from crashing,
Then we can conquer the sky.
When I’m headed for happenstance
You’ll keep us intact,
But ask me if I’ve learned my lesson,
Not quite yet let’s do it again.
If you’ll be my navigator,
I can be your aviator.
CHORUS
Bum ba dum ba dum…
If you’ll be my navigator,
I can be your aviator.
THE NEW WORLD
By Rae Hering and Jonathan Morse
I went for the flavor
Of sea salt and danger
To chase down the torrents and tides
Why not live before I’m anchored down by life.
Well I found my tempest in
A handsome specimen
Just the adventure I needed
Unexplored territory indeed
Headed for the New World!
Our straight lace discretions
Were starting to lessen
We couldn’t help but make waves
‘Course who but the Captain
Came storming our cabin
Pouring with holy rage, sayin’
There’s no room on his ship
For stowaway courtship
But oh did he know just the spot
An island made for two
He said, “think of it as your Honeymoon
In the New World!”
Welcome to the New World
Got tossed right off the map
With a Bible, some bread scraps and a prayer
So this is the New World
Nobles to nobodies
No boat, no hope, no
Where is the New World?
Guess this is the New World
We made it our New World
I sit at this table,
Regretfully grateful
My Queen, you’re a generous host
But my impropriety has left me ghosts
I buried my lover|
Dare I say the other
Was only an innocent child
I was rescued but I’m far from reconciled
So this is my New World
I’m walking in a New World
Yes, this is my New World
Welcome to the New World.
PIECE ON EARTH
By Rae Hering
I’m sitting like I’m going nowhere fast,
A stubborn stone in the breeze.
When everyone’s a flutterin’ around all busy
Well, me, I’m taking it easy
By the shade of an old friend,
Yes, I’ve found a patch of peace,
Might only be dirt
But it’s my piece on Earth,
Right under my feet.
Some picky people say I’m in a slump
Well, I like to say I’m satisfied.
Got a canopy of willow, a mossy pillow
And an angel wing sky
That’s playing out my every daydream,
Yes, I’ve found a patch of peace,
CHORUS
So if you got a fickle tickled toe
Before you gallop off afar,
Remember there’s adventure in the smallest pleasure
Right where you are,
Why in your backyard there’s a bonafide
Eighth wonder of the world,
Might only be dirt
But it’s your piece on Earth,
Right under your feet.
Look west or east
But you have all you need,
And if that’s all you got
Then my God, that’s a lot,
CHORUS
RED-RED
By Rae Hering
Your red-red nose,
Your red-red nose.
You’re brushed with the blush of all things youthful.
Even when you make your skin
To look like porcelain
Oh the red-nosed girl lies within! Lies within.
Your womanhood,
Your blooming womanhood
Should be observed with care while never fully understood.
And your stage is set for improvisatory lines and cues,
Oh to have intent without knowing what to do!
Imagination in bloom!
Even the roses on your stage
Have their day or two.
There was a day,
There once was a day
My dreams were light as air and I was carried away
Like a balloon I’d let go with every bow
And I would float into the crowd.
That girl who’s up off the ground lies within!
Imagination turned loose!
Even balloons make it last
The landing comes all too soon.
Your red-red nose,
Your red-red nose,
An iridescence imperfectly beautiful.
What a flower you have bloomed into
You’re pretty as a rose.
Just remember after you’ve struck your last pose
What lies within.
ROBOTS
By Rae Hering
We are robots, robots,
We are robots, robots,
We are robots, robots,
Taking over the world
Just try to stop us, stop us,
Try to stop us, stop us,
Just try to stop us, stop us,
We are coded for control
We’ve been programed
By your command
To destroy man
Fast as we can
You may call it innovation
We would call it domination!
CHORUS
SLAPDASH PARADISE
By Rae Hering
I catch a plane,
Goin’ back to where I feel sane,
Where they still know my name,
Where I can leave
These parts and pieces that just aren’t me.
So as I wait
For takeoff how my heavy heart aches
To undo my mistakes,
To say goodbye
To my slapdash paradise.
There was a time I wined and dined
On so-called insight.
Now all that’s left are testy guests
I never meant to invite.
Cuz all they are
Are party wreckers holding guitars
That haven’t played a lick so far.
I’m on a plane,
Goin’ back to where I feel sane,
Where they still know my name,
This is goodbye
To my slapdash paradise.
There was a time I signed the line
That promised me a good life.
But as I kept the lie alive
I realized I’m dying inside.
And in a way
Home seemed like a fictional place
I stopped believin’ at my age.
But here I am,
Prodigal and without a plan
Except this ticket in my hand.
This is goodbye
To my slapdash paradise,
I say goodbye
To my slapdash paradise,
I’m gonna leave
All the parts and pieces that just aren’t me,
This is goodbye
To my slapdash paradise.
SMILE
By Rae Hering and Laura Vance
I keep a smile on me all the time
It’s on the tip of my lips, ready to shine
It’s easy to carry, in fact it’s carefree,
Yeah, I keep a smile on me
A sunny face can chase the boo hoos away,
Say hello on its own but can go with a waive,
It’s universal but unique to you,
It’s simple! Raise a dimple or two,
So smile, you won’t regret it if you
Smile, no one forgets it when you
Smile, life is better with a smile
A grin is always in any time of year,
It’s classy to be happy from ear to ear,
Life’s short, so why not sport that happy cliché,
Break it in and wear it out today.
CHORUS
It’s a waste of face, if you don’t erase, what clouds up the space
Below your nose, north of your chin,
So don’t you know good things begin
With a
So smile,
A little smile
Come on and smile
Life is better with a smile
Just smile, you won’t regret it if you
Smile, no one forgets it when you
Smile, life is better with a smile.
SNEAK ATTACK
By Rae Hering
I used to be brave and bold and strong,
Used to make right what seemed so wrong,
Used to incite courageous song. (Ra Ra Ra)
But then, out of the Nothingness it came
With nothing to shoot down when I aimed,
Nothing to beat at its own game
Where did my bad guy go?
Now who’s to blame?
Where is my opposite
To keep me mostly sane?
Where did my bad guy go?
I’m white when he is black
Till the Nothingness in life
Pulls a sneak attack.
So how do I foil its evil plan?
If it were beast, machine or man
Pulling the plug, going Ssslam! Wham!! BAmmm! would do.
But this foe, it is made of formlessness,
No way to feel or intuit
A Nothingness
That does not logically exist
CHORUS
Then out of the Nothingness it came
Nothing but Nothingness in vain,
Nothing to dare, defy or anger.
Where’d my bad guy go?
Who’s to blame?
Where is my opposite
To keep me mostly sane?
Where did my bad guy go?
Won’t you bring him back?
Cuz the Nothingness in life
Pulled a sneak attack.
I used to be brave and bold and strong,
Used to make right what seemed so wrong,
Used to incite courageous song. (Ra Ra Ra Ra Ra)
STONE TELLING
By Rae Hering
Inspired by Shel Silverstein’s poem “Stone Telling”
How do we tell if a window is open?
Just throw a stone at it.
How do we tell if a window is open?
Just throw a stone at it.
Does it make, it make, it make a noise?
It’s loopy as logic and silly as sense,
Just throw a stone at it.
As soon as ya got it now add some finesse,
And throw a stone at it.
Oh won’t you come out and play?
It’s a beautiful day
When there’s balls and bats and hacky sacks,
Nicky knacks, a bag of jacks
And lot’s of laughs singin’ Hooray!
How do we tell if a window is open?
Just throw a stone at it.
And hope it don’t goes too near to your nose
And throw a stone at it.
Does it make, it make, it make a noise?
And if it finds your floor
Ignore your chores
Let’s take our toys and make some noise
The girls and boys say “Hey! Ahoy!”
And jump for joy, singin’ Hooray!
How do we tell if a window is open?
Just throw a stone at it.
How do we tell if a window is open?
Just throw a stone at it.
Does it make, it make, it make a....CRASH!
How do we tell if a window is open?
How do we tell if a window is open?
How do I tell if your window is open?
Gee, my arm’s getting sore
Next time I’m using the door.
THEN YOU SAID MY NAME
By Rae Hering and Robert LaSalle
I came from solid ground
Where footsteps lead somewhere,
Somewhere I never found,
I know it must be there.
Where virtue meets its vice
I stand to greet it,
Not knowing what I’ll find
My body’s leaving me.
But then you said my name,
Then you said my name.
The name means nothing more
Than the way I hear it, knocking
At my open door,
I’m only here in spirit.
CHORUS
My body left me there
Amongst forgotten footsteps,
Footsteps that lead somewhere,
I hear your voice somewhere.
CHORUS
TOP HAT ACROBAT
By Rae Hering
This life of a magician
Is one of criticisms and cynicisms.
Even my lovely assistant
Has words to say that her smile simply can’t.
I live for the opportunity
To suspend reality
Over unsuspecting heads!
I have a miniature acrobat,
She lives in my top hat.
When I greet my audience
She leaps over the fence of disbelief.
My acrobat, she stays trim
With strict restraint and copious discipline.
So when she takes her tumbles
You’d swear she’s on the wings of a miracle.
No strings holding your sense of what could be
A reality-a-ty.
I wave my wand, applause, applause!
INSTRUMENTAL CHORUS
They told me it’s hard work,
It’s hard work they said,
It’s not that I didn’t listen.
It’s just that reality’s over my head,
And that’s what I want to tell them.
CHORUS
WATERCOLOR
By Rae Hering
I want to paint with my watercolors,
Sit down alone with my own thoughts and not be bothered,
Yes I want to blur the lines, release my own design,
I want to get to know my, get to know myself again.
And I want to spin around in circles,
Feel giddy getting dizzy, laughing like a little girl,
I’m going back to what’s inside, cuz the truth it cannot hide,
I want to get to know my, get to know myself
Again,
No room for doubting
Who I am,
Just breathe it out and
Start again,
When I lose my way,
When my world looks gray,
Don’t know one gray line from another,
I’ll paint my path in watercolor.
And no matter what I’m letting nothing phase me,
Yeah, I’m shaking off my wish-y washy maybes,
Every molecule, every mole, every finite follicle’s
Got to get to know my, get to know myself
CHORUS
I can feel my reds and blues,
They’re coming up strong, they’re shining through,
I’m washed in yellow, painted purple,
I’ve got to get to know my, get to know myself
CHORUS
WEAR A CROWN
By Rae Hering
In the company of half-drunken glasses
Still laughing as much as the faces that were here,
We laughed off the loneliness with a kind of lonely cheer.
I am the queen, no one else here to
Claim the emptiness, the emptiness is mine.
I’ve pardoned my guests; I’m the one who’s made this mess.
So I will sing at the top of my lungs!
Cuz I can.
I’m the Ruler of Empty Spaces,
Majesty of Abandoned Places,
Call it mine if the land is vacant ,
And I will sing at the top of my lungs!
Cuz I can, cuz I can, cuz I can.
The walls are gossiping, reviewing my party,
Using a language of expressionless stares.
I used understand them but emptiness is grand.
So I’ll dance until I trip and fall!
Cuz I can.
CHORUS
I think if you’re the loneliest around
Wear a crown, wear a crown, wear a crown.
WORDLESS WORDS
By Rae Hering
Kissing on the kitchen floor,
Sweeping our worries away.
We had dinner just the two of us,
We conversed over candlelit crème brulee.
But lying on linoleum
Just feels right
After all those formalities
I put us through sometimes.
And when the conversation fades
Down to a lullaby hum
It’s those words we left unspoken
That I still taste on the tongue.
With every kiss, a word on it
I probably meant to say.
Cuz when you just can’t say it all
Confined inside syllabic walls,
When definitions make it worse
Let us converse with wordless words.
Words are like formalities,
They’re cumbersome and unclear.
But you can kiss
The unspoken right into my ear.
Kissing on the kitchen floor.
With every kiss, a word on it
You probably meant to say.
CHORUS