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12 Months a Year

by Leslie Hudson

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1.
whisper she whispers in a breath that hangs and waits moment her moment comes when air and ice equate silence a silence when she holds the earth in thrall phragmites in the fields leaves the winds have tossed evergreens are sleeping with a touch of frost crackle on the pains the dawn's repost feathering the forest with a touch of frost treadfall her tread so light that not a blade is bent silver a silver sky of murmuring consent phragmites in the fields leaves the winds have tossed evergreens are sleeping with a touch of frost crackle on the pains the dawn's repost feathering the forest with a touch of frost with a touch of frost with a touch of frost
2.
It was a dark and stormy day and she was glad Because it matched down to each blowing leaf the mood she had She had a dark and stormy way that made her smile A little thunder for the chaff she swept away awhile Leave me in peace No I will not go to seek What I've already found Leave me in peace As I sweep, sweep, sweep Out with the old In with the new year crowned A crowd began to pass her by and still she swept When they called out to her she stood and her own threshold kept The crowd began to thin till she was left alone To watch the sunset when the winter birds had all but flown Leave me in peace No I will not go to seek What I've already found Leave me in peace As I sweep, sweep, sweep Out with the old In with the new year crowned A star above her in the evening sky appeared It shone as boldly as the ones before now disappeared The star above her in the darkness burned so bright Taking its place among a billion suns of love and light Leave me in peace No I will not go to seek What I've already found Leave me in peace As I sweep, sweep, sweep Out with the old In with the new Out with the old In with the new Out with the old In with the new year crowned
3.
Today I went walking by the station I never come this way anymore Cuz it reminds me of you And that day I came and met you at the station We walked through the snow as the wind blew And I didn't know what to say to you Crows on the tracks today They've got a lot to say as I walk by Crows on the tracks today They've got a lot to say I know the miles that lie between us Are measuring more than the distance now And there's nothing I can do You know I went and fucked this up completely Maybe I'll find out one day if you missed me And I didn't know what to say to you No I didn't know what to say to you Crows on the tracks today Calling it out to the sky Crows on the tracks today They were calling it out to the sky Crows on the tracks today Calling it out to the sky Crows on the tracks today Crows on the tracks today They've got a lot to say as I walk by Crows on the tracks today They've got a lot to say as I walk by They were calling it out to the sky Crows on the tracks today They've got a lot to say as I walk by Calling it out to the sky Crows on the tracks today They've got a lot to say And I have so much to say to you Oh I have so much to say to you
4.
Dusk is a purple light that hangs like a chord that won't resolve until all of time dissolves away resolves to stay still Love is a fragment of the whole like the pattern of the scars that have crissed and crossed the part of this the scars have missed yet Song is a temporary spell like a touch that cannot last but it reaches from the past to hold the last it told us Tangerine and lemon creme All the colours left to dream Grey as doves and lilac gloves These are February's loves
5.
I've been thinking about joy and the kind they go to find at the Marigold Hotel in the heat and colour of the new I've been thinking about time and the way it tends to bend around any truth we tell with the ache and stutter of a few Memory and sensation linger longer than the choices do I've been thinking about life through the guise of ghostly eyes at the boxes getting checked on a list of happy coming true I've been thinking about why and the need to make it bleed into probably just because in a case of frankly wanting to Ink and syncopation matter more than all the voices coming through oh, they do cuz they linger longer than the choices do Would I lie to you? Everything is gonna be alright in the end and if it's not alright then this is not the end Would I lie, would I lie Would I lie to you? Everything is gonna be alright and if it's not alright then this is not the end
6.
If I'm honest there are phases where I'm eaten up Like a gibbous moon, pissed off that its time is up If I'm honest there are memories that I wanna burn in a sadist fire Line them up to wait their turn Don't want tomorrow to be the same Pricking my skin with these pins of blame I've been worried there are places - bruises in my mind Like the ice you see just above the water line I've been worried my defenses - symptoms of the cause Keep me swimming on in this anger just because Don't want tomorrow to be the same Pricking my skin with these pins of blame Tomorrow doesn't have to be the same Pricking my skin with these pins of blame Stuck in the loop It's easy to get stuck in the loop If only I could go back take back hit back lay back hold back fade back step back play that back again Stuck in the loop It's easy to get stuck in the loop
7.
Grow Wild 02:51
A hedge witch without a hedge Is like a shiny little knife without an edge The potential to grow wild is there Somewhere A hedge witch without a hedge Is like a shiny little knife without an edge The potential to grow wild is there Somewhere, I swear Would you believe it? There's mushrooms in your stew I picked them just for you today I'm pretty sure that These mushroom aren't the kind To make you lose your mind One sec, lemme check A hedge witch without a hedge Is like a shiny little knife without an edge The potential to grow wild is there Somewhere A hedge witch without a hedge Is like a shiny little knife without an edge The potential to grow wild is there Somewhere, I swear And when I asked you To bring me in the plate Out by the garden gate today Had I neglected To warn you of the plants That kill you on first glance? One sec, lemme check A hedge witch without a hedge Is like a shiny little knife without an edge The potential to grow wild is there Somewhere A hedge witch without a hedge Is like a shiny little knife without an edge The potential to grow wild is there Somewhere, I swear Somewhere, I swear Somewhere, I swear Somewhere, I swear
8.
Party Hat 02:58
Holidays are pressure points in an otherwise calming sea of time that melts the days together if it weren't for the light and weather Suddenly remember you gotta dress it all up in pink balloons to demonstrate affection with a decorative confection Commerce drives economy and artists gotta eat but I hate putting on my party hat to say I love you I can say I think about all the beautiful hours wrapped up in your arms that make me smile by the fathom and the mile Doesn't it sound sweeter without all the ribbons tied up in a tangle I just wanna be come undone any season of the sun with you Commerce drives economy and artists gotta eat but I hate putting on my party hat to say it Commerce drives economy and artists gotta eat but I hate putting on my party hat to say I love you I love you I do Chocolate is for every day Wine's a daily drink Cinnamon's the spice of life no matter what they think This calendrical regime won't tell me when to tell you how I feel I'll tell you when it's real Here's the only card you'll get cuz you already know my rebel self can't let this go unchallenged It hold my world in balance Not gonna put on pretty clothes and I don't wanna make it special more than all the other days cuz I always feel this way Commerce drives economy and artists gotta eat but I hate putting on my party hat to say it Commerce drives economy and artists gotta eat but I hate putting on my party hat to say I love you I love you I do I just hate putting on my party hat
9.
I know my friend likes cornflower blue So whenever I see her I wear this dress But when I see her brother he likes me much taller So I always carry my heels unless There's a drink in his hand on a Tuesday as planned And I have to change more than my shoes In every circumstance there's the off chance I'm gonna lose no matter what I choose to wear I know my friend likes biking the paths through the city So I learn to ride along And when I see her daughter with princesses on her I know to get ready to sing the song Even though I'm afraid who I am is betrayed When I stray very far from the blues In every circumstance there's the off chance I'm gonna lose no matter what I choose to sing You don't know walk-in closets until you've seen mine A gallery of all the skins I've worn Choices made and times I've stayed too long in some You don't know walk-in closets until you've seen mine A gallery of all the skins I've worn Choices made and times I've stayed too long in some That's why they're worn I know the girl you met at the bar Is someone you think you know better now But when I see you coming I'm already changing My hair and my clothes and my shoes and my smile Nobody knows how I look with no clothes Cuz I've never been naked before And all of my mirrors and all I appear as Are facets of hope that I'm yours In every circumstance there's the off chance I'm gonna lose no matter what I choose In every circumstance there's the off chance I'm gonna lose no matter what I choose to say No matter what I choose to play No matter how long I choose to stay In every circumstance there's the off chance I'm gonna lose no matter what I choose today
10.
The tide goes out At first it's all this gorgeous emptiness Drying out to glitter in the sun You go explore And find the rock pools full of promises Waiting for the water rise to come It's only sand that's been abandoned Left to burn bone dry When the shore again becomes the sea floor Does it miss the sky? The tide comes in At first the pressure is wet and delicate Sinking in to wait expectantly You hold your ground And dare the shallows not to weigh you down Beating with the rhythm of the sea It's only sand that was abandoned Left to burn bone dry When the shore again becomes the sea floor Does it miss the sky? All the waves Hundreds coming in All the grains Millions giving in Millions giving in Giving in It's only sand that's been abandoned Left to burn bone dry But when the shore again becomes the sea floor Does it miss the sky? Only sand has been abandoned Left to burn bone dry But when the shore again becomes the sea floor Does it miss the sky or does it say goodbye? Does it miss the sky? Does it say goodbye?
11.
Open Road 02:32
I went to see the tumbleweeds and the Joshua trees and the pieces of me that stuck I went to find the boundary line with the rest behind and a bottle of wine for luck But I didn't need luck cuz I wasn't stuck It's the open road with a hundred miles to go before I get to where I'm going that's gone I went to where the salt sea air and the sun on my hair came to find me there I stood I went to ask for another task with an empty flask If only I could fill this glass I would And then I understood that I always would It's the open road with a hundred miles to go before I get to where I'm going It's the open road with a hundred miles to go before I get to where I'm going before I get to where I'm going before I get to where I'm going that's gone
12.
Quantum 02:16
falling into all I've lived through the alchemical melting down to cosmic space brew the echo of old drafting new lines reconstructing every last thing imagine it all cells dividing sweet uprising ready to fall atoms and space fingers and face arsenic and lace

about

12 songs for 12 months of the year, plus 3 bonus tracks. Each song was released to Leslie's patrons on the 21st of the month, Nov 21 2021 - Oct 21 2022. Most of these songs were written & recorded during FAWM 2022, edited & mastered monthly.

Including ace/aro love songs, tour memories, reflections on neurodivergence, praising the beauty of nature & physics, film & folklore inspirations, friends made and lost, mental health, boundaries, and a layered-vocal tapestry born from just enough wine in the dark.

credits

released December 2, 2022

With thanks to all Leslie's patrons for their continued support

Recorded & produced by Leslie Hudson at Blest & Hext Studios, Stratford ON Canada

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Leslie Hudson Stratford, Ontario

Leslie Hudson is a Canadian singer songwriter and pianist. Their albums range from storytelling styles to bluesy bar rock to dialed-up, full-band homages to pop culture. With lyrical piano skills and a voice that cuts through the crowd, their songs dive deep into archetype and folklore, modernizing ancient voices & shining a spotlight on the shadowy paths we walk through life, myth and media. ... more

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