1. |
Heart Song Listen
03:37
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Heart Song Listen
Music and lyrics by Alanna
You say it first
in the quickening of the spring
and I promise I won’t leave you hanging
coz I could teach you how to sing
if you teach me how to dance
cross the freshly cut lawn
of this happenstance
and if you press your ear
on my chest to the left
you will surely hear
that my heart is made of
wilting wall flowers
lost song lyrics
newly turned soil
shoots of green peeping through
You say it first
in a foreign language
and I’ll do my best to translate
did you say
you can wash and I’ll dry?
I’ll meet your folks
if you’ll meet mine
open your hands and close your eyes
and if you press your ear
on my chest to the left
you will surely hear
that my heart is made of
tanged bed sheets
stopped clocks
black ink
and seven shards of looking glass
swept up from my past
You say it first
and I’ll hope that it will last
the first time we talked well past closing
and got kicked out by the staff
first glimpse of your bad handwriting
skip, triple step, spin
how do you make a first last?
and if you press your ear
on my chest to the left
you will surely hear
the orchestra playing forte on my heartstrings
singing
life is a song
heart song listen
life is a song
heart song listen
life is a song
heart song listen.
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2. |
Borrowed Time
03:57
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Borrowed Time
Music and lyrics by Alicia
She lived in a little town
never finished school
but she could see through you
she was nobody’s fool
never had a lot in her pocket
she saw the ocean but never crossed it
She and Bill
they didn’t have much to talk about
she realised too late
she couldn’t live without him
he built her a house
as men in those days could
baked each brick in the sun
table carved from wood
roast and spuds and bathtub scrubbed
she fought those stubborn stains
but early last September
when they moved her across town
the fallen queen was never quite the same
And I got these blues
I can’t shake
but in the morning if you don’t wake
you walk the fragile line of borrowed time
She had three sons and a daughter
before she was thirty
her daughter had two daughters
and the second one was me
she says the nurses here are soldiers
don’t walk around alone
they will take you like they took me
you will never go back home
you can have my bike
I don’t ride it much no more
I parked it out the front
it’s yours
And I got these blues I can’t shake
but in the morning if you don’t wake
don’t think of us
if you’ve had enough
I got these blues I can’t shake
but in the morning if you don’t wake
that’s ok
you’re on your way
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3. |
The Teetotaller
04:02
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Teetotaller
Music and lyrics by Alanna
The boy don’t drink
the boy don’t drink
not a drop you see
he likes his orange juice, kombucha, peppermint tea if you please
the boy don’t drink
his breath don’t stink
and that’s just fine by me
but how do you steal a first kiss from a teetotaller drinking tea?
Join the long tradition
lose your inhibitions
a glass of red or three
good Cuban rum will loosen the tongue
be it Mojito or strawberry daiquiri
fine Prosecco, sighing yes
so top up my glass if you please
but how do you steal a first kiss from a teetotaller drinking
how do you steal?
how do you steal a first kiss from a teetotaller drinking tea?
ahh teetotaller
teetotaller
teetotaller drinking tea
teetotaller, my teetotaller
speaks oh so coherently
to me oh my
teetotaller, teetotaller
read his tealeaves and you’ll see
how to steal a first kiss from a teetotaller drinking
how do you steal?
how do you steal a first kiss from a teetotaller drinking tea?
Now,
nobody likes a boozer
nobody likes a lush
nobody likes a beer belly or the bilious tell-tale flush
it’s great for his health
it’s great for his wealth
on that you can guarantee
but how do you steal a first kiss from a teetotaller drinking
how do you steal?
how do you steal a first kiss from a teetotaller drinking tea?
ahh teetotaller
teetotaller
teetotaller drinking tea
teetotaller, my teetotaller
the total wowser is totally wowing
me oh my teetotaller, teetotaller
he’s stirring it up just for me
but how do you steal a first kiss from a teetotaller drinking
stealing my heart
how do you steal a first kiss from of a teetotaller drinking tea?
He says babe I got a nice spiced chai
give it a try
soy or cows milk on the side?
kettle is boiling hot
spinning my best teapot
French Earl Grey or Camomile?
Lemon grass ginger brew
Sleepy time tea for two
It’s worth the wait while it’s drawing
sweet polite won’t get in a fight
your designated driver for life
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4. |
Secret Pocket
04:52
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Secret Pocket
Music and lyrics by Alicia
Just not right for this world
just not right for this world
or maybe this world
was just not right for you
so much to change in this world
so much to fix in this world
but all we have is this world
I had so much I had to show you
You lived in me just ten weeks
lost you for a lifetime
your tiny soul I keep
in a secret pocket in my heart
you grew as big as a blueberry
didn’t make it to the size of a jellybean
an orange, melon, newborn
full grown human being
I’ll never know
were your eyes dark or blue or green?
never hear your laughter ringing
or your best supermarket scream
I’ll never know
who you’d turn out to be
would you be just like your dad
or frighteningly like me?
But you were just not right for this world
just not right for this world
or maybe this world
was just not right for you
Your dad bought the finest blackwood
to build a cot for you
your grandma bought the finest wool
to knit your first pair of shoes
I just lay awake at night
trying to tell myself I could do it
that you’d show me who I needed to be
every step of the way
But you were just not right for this world
just not right for this world
but all we have is this world
I had so much I had to show you
They say you know you’ll have another one
who’ll cling on tight
grow up strong
this memory will fade in time
just you wait and see
But your tiny soul I’ll always keep
in a secret pocket in my heart
tucked away out of sight
where it’s safe and warm and dark
women carry little green sparks
of the dreams that never were
unannounced to this world
names that go unheard
‘Cos they were just not right for this world
just not right for this world
maybe I’ll meet you
in the next world
will you wait for me?
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5. |
Windmills
03:23
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6. |
Sincerely, Covid
04:31
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Sincerely, Covid
Music and lyrics by Alanna
Watched you
before lockdown
before I forced every playground, pool, school, cafe
and border to close down
before lockdown
before lockdown
before lockdown
you thought you ruled this town
so, there’ll be no
hugging in the street
no smooching in the bar
swap power suit for tracksuit
go to your room
until you learn how to behave
you'll be enslaved by zoom
in lockdown
Got you
dawn of lockdown
you thought your economy was built of stone
till I forced the whole world to stay home
in lockdown
in lockdown
welcome to my ghost town of lockdown
No excuse
if you're on the loose
with more than two
cop an on the spot fine
do your time, stay confined
you're mine,
in lockdown
Haunting you
in solitude
in lockdown
will you change your ways
if I spin this ailing world to life again?
or stay condemned to lockdown
lockdown
in lockdown you dance with me now
Eyes dart from masks
back off six feet
I’m the silent virus
I creep deserted streets
healthy, wealthy and white
won’t escape my appetite
vaccine you'll never catch me
until you change your priorities
sincerely, Covid19
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7. |
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Everybody Dances in New Orleans
Music and lyrics by Alicia
I said, no thanks, I don’t dance
but you pulled me to the floor
you said, everybody dances in New Orleans
I said, these aren’t dancing shoes
you said, you’ve got nothing to lose
I’ll take you dancing darling tonight
I’ll take you dancing darling
In old New Orleans, you said, we do just what we wanna
everybody shakes it in the French Quarter
in old Frenchmen street
the music never stops
we danced to zydeco and swing,
Cajun, doo-wop
‘til our hands were sore from clapping
‘til our feet dropped off
‘til we forgot who we were
and who we are not
we lived on gumbo, jambalaya, po’ boys and vodka
swimming down Bourbon street on liquid limbs
I’ll take you dancing darling tonight
I’ll take you dancing darling
We walked the Creole streets of old New Orleans
warm rain in the air
jazz on the breeze
past rainbow coloured houses
shining from their stilts
ferns spilling from baskets
from balconies that tilt
we lived on gumbo, jambalaya, po’ boys and vodka
swimming down Bourbon street on liquid limbs
we got lost in Creole streets
lost ourselves ‘neath Creole sheets
and at the end of the week, I said
thanks for the dancing darling tonight
thanks for the dancing darling
In old Melbourne town
no one does just what they wanna
they’re all wearing black
the sky grey and sombre
in old Melbourne town
the boys don’t dance at all
they’re just staring at the women
they’re just propping up the walls
don’t care if its zydeco or swing,
Cajun, doo-wop
I miss you old Frenchman street
your music never stops
make my hands sore from clapping
make my feet drop off
‘til I forget who I am and who I am not
Take me dancing darling tonight
take me dancing darling
I wanna go dancing darling
take me dancing darling
I said, no thanks, I don’t dance
but you pulled me to the floor
you said, everybody dances in New Orleans
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8. |
Sing for Tuvalu
04:58
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Sing for Tuvalu
Music and lyrics by Alicia and Ben Henley
We travelled on a long boat
where not many people go
to a tiny island
not many people know
they welcomed us with singing
like we’d never heard before
we laughed and sang
drank kava
‘til wild roosters crowed at dawn
ahoo ahoo
Sing for Tuvalu
we cannot ignore
cyclones lash and tear the palms
mother nature keeps the score
Every Sunday morning Mele mourns her mother’s grave
leaves a pink hibiscus
kneels a while to pray
but the warming sea keeps rising
lapping closer every day
threatening to wash away
Mele’s mother’s grave
ahoo ahoo
Sing for Tuvalu
we cannot ignore
rainbow coral bleached to bone
mother nature keeps the score
Watch the darkening sky
what will the next storm bring?
will our thatched roof houses last the night?
hear the storm surge raging in
Mele whispers to the waves
will I have to move my mother’s grave?
my mother always said to me
never turn your back on the sea
ahoo ahoo
Sing for Tuvalu
we cannot ignore
drinking water turned to salt
mother nature keeps the score
Sometimes of an evening, we watch the headline news
sea levels are rising
Magpies thrash the Blues
when we tell our children of the island no one knows
hibiscus floats on water
where they can never go
for Tuvalu is sleeping ‘neath the deep Pacific blue
what will we tell them when they ask,
was there nothing you could do?
We dedicate this song to our Pacific Island neighbours and friends.
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9. |
Waiting in the Wings
04:44
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Waiting in the Wings
Music by Andy Baylor
Lyrics by Alanna Egan
You’re a song
awaiting words
mmmm mmmm mmmm
your heart
a melody
gone unheard
mmmmm mmmmm mmmm
Saturday nights
and Sundays
masquerade
as Mondays
hotspots and cases
flicker and fade
eleven thirty updates
Waiting in the wings
are all those songs
we used to sing
dance steps
we somehow knew by heart
the moment we heard the band start
tuning up the strings
lights begin to dim
crowd smiling and clapping
breathing in to sing
back then
you had no idea
your song could disappear
in these
lost and lonely years
Your life hangs like your best dress
seldom worn
mmmm mmmm mmmm
birthday candles stay
in the bottom drawer
mmmm mmmm mmm
wheel the bins out
wheel them in again
wave to your neighbour
but don’t invite them in
lost faces and places
flicker and fade
beyond your five ks
Waiting in the wings
are all those songs
we used to sing
dance steps
we somehow knew by heart
the moment we heard the band start
tuning up the strings
lights begin to dim
crowd smiling and clapping
breathing in to sing
back then
you had no idea
your song could disappear
in these
lost and lonely years
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10. |
Women Be Wise
03:40
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Alanna and Alicia Melbourne, Australia
Twin sisters Alanna & Alicia charm audiences from Port Fairy to the National with their original folky/jazz/roots songs,
sweet harmonies and onstage warmth, wit and fun.
'deliciously idiosyncratic and saucy songs...wry, frank observations of life and love…quality quirky lyrics delivered with verve and the kind of close harmonies you'd expect from sisters.'
Tony Hillier, Rhythms magazine.
... more
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