1. |
Mermaid
03:22
|
|
||
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
It's not because they're trying to get laid
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
It's not because they think they got played
Heaven forbid they see me on the stage
As more than a girl from the center page
I'm more than the sum of my lady parts
That's not how we get to the top of the charts
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
It's not because they're trying to get laid
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
It's not because they think they got played
You better run quick 'cause I'm burning this bridge
It's the first thing I did when I opened the fridge
The first thing I did was to take a deep breath
Then I let out the fire that burned in my chest
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
It's not because they're trying to get laid
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
It's not because they think they got played
The sea is full of princes who can't swim
So tell me what's the point in learning to walk for them?
Oh, the sea is full of princes who can't swim
So tell me WTF's the point learning to walk for them?
Kick with your feet and I'm sure you'll be fine
I gotta go cuz I'm bringing the wine
I gotta go cuz they're waiting on me
Down where the party is under the sea
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
It's not because they're trying to get laid
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
It's not because they think they got played
If I make 'em cry for the mermaid
I make 'em cry
|
||||
2. |
Irretrievable
03:43
|
|
||
I thought that we were safe in the hideout
I didn't know that you were feeling from the inside-out
That me in tiny shorts outweighed
My oblivious display
Of what I was afraid to say
To anyone else then
Anyone else then
I thought that we had trust in our pockets
I didn't think we'd find an easy way to unlock it
That years of close activity
And raucous incivility
And knowing what you knew of me
Could shatter that way, but
Shatter that way, but
He whispered in your ear
The cruelest lies that you could hear
Pulled the rug out under
When he left you like the plunder he discards
With your dignity in shards
Discarded
Dignity in shards (irretrievable)
I thought you'd side with me over a stranger
I didn't think you'd make me feel like we were in danger
But you unleashed the hurricane
And soaked me with your acid rain
Till it blew out the way it came
And we were irretrievable
We were irretrievable
I stood still in the torrent of your words
That stuck to my skin
Disbelieving
And I stood still in the torrent of your words
That stuck to my skin
Disbelieving
We were irretrievable
We were irretrievable
When the storm was over
And the truth had been picked clean
We were irretrievable
We were irretrievable
|
||||
3. |
88 Keys
03:10
|
|
||
It's the middle of the night
And I can't sleep
I still can't remember
What's buried too deep
88 keys again
It's the middle of the night
And I am beat
Holding this together
Adapt and repeat
Just me and these 88 keys again
Dancing a waltz
To the rhythm of my pen
On 88 keys again
It's the middle of the night
And I just weep
Haunted by the nightmares
That follow me to sleep
88 keys again (follow me to sleep)
88 keys again (follow me to sleep)
Just me and these 88 keys again
Dancing a waltz
To the rhythm of my pen
On 88 keys again
88 keys again
88 keys again
|
||||
4. |
Even Standing Still
03:11
|
|
||
My window on the world
Is anchored to this spot
I'm used to driving distances
Across the map from dot to dot
Now when I look up
There's a ring of cedar trees around the sky
Ever constant, ever changing
As am I
Even standing still
Sundown and stepping out
To touch the grass and breathe in
She looked up
So I looked up
As 50 crows flew overhead
So silently I would have missed them
Otherwise
Wingtips tipped in vibrant orange light
Leaving me to bask
In the afterglow of crows' flight
Wingtips tipped in vibrant orange light
Leaving me to bask
In the afterglow of crows' flight
Even standing still
Even standing still
Hawks and moths and butterflies
Finches, jays and lullabies
Vultures riding thermals high
Hawks and moths and butterflies
Finches, jays and lullabies
Vultures riding thermals high
Even standing still
Even standing still
Even standing still
Even standing still
All is flux and so am I
Even standing still while I
|
||||
5. |
Blind Spots
03:26
|
|
||
Lying alone in bed
All of these memories in my head
All of these injuries left unsaid
Counting
When I was touched without my consent
When I was groomed until I relented
When I was hammered until I bent
Doubting
I want to feel
That even the blind spots are real
Cuz I want to heal
This beaten soul
I want to find
That mythical boundary line
That I stand behind
Until I feel whole
Asking the girls I've been
Whether I'd go through it all again
Whether I'd stop before diving in
Wondering
I know I've lost my way
When I am carving myself into pieces to stay
When I'm living to get through the day
Crumbling
I want to feel
That even the blind spots are real
Cuz I want to heal
This beaten soul
I want to find
That mythical boundary line
That I stand behind
Until I feel whole
I know who I had to be to get here
I want to feel
That even the blind spots are real
Cuz I want to heal
This beaten soul
|
||||
6. |
Predator
02:50
|
|
||
There's a predator lurking
On the verge of being seen
And normally I wouldn't care
Cuz nothing frightens me
Except the predator pacing
Round the edge and marking me
Ostensibly I wouldn't flinch
But he's been haunting me
He's a predator
I know he's a predator
There's a predator sliding
Back and forth behind his eyes
That casually he tries to hide
But no one tells me lies
Even the predator waiting
For the offspring of the prize
That got away
He can't keep his desires at bay
His eyes will say
What his mouth will not give away
Predator
His eyes will say
What his mouth will not give away
Predator
I know he's a predator
A child is allowed to be innocent
When monsters stay under the bed
But she learns very soon
That outside the cocoon
Monsters can carry balloons instead
Predator
There's a predator standing
By the rudder of the boat
Sadistically he dips me into fear
To watch me float
Evade the predator whispering
So no one else can hear
I don't know why I know this
But I gotta get away from here
Run away
His eyes will say
What his mouth will not give away
Run away
His eyes will say
What his mouth will not give away
Predator
I know he's a predator
I know he's a predator
I know he's a predator
And he missed me by that much
|
||||
7. |
Barricades
03:03
|
|
||
I've been sitting with my silence
Thinking isn't this a kindness
Cuz I promised I would keep it
In the place where I keep all your secrets safe
Town to town and tire to tire
Kitchenettes and backyard fires
And miles to reconsider
While you slither slither slither away
From the skin I wore
Slapped so hard behind closed doors
My smile on upside-down
While I kept finding ways to drown
In bottles and bars and boulevards
Beautiful men and broken down cars
In buttons and buckles and barricades
It's been years since I remembered
How we came to find November
Making all the wrong decisions
With the clearest kinda vision we could
Lie to lie and lull to lull
Catch a falling mirrorball
With years to reconsider
How you slither slither slithered away
From the lips I wore
Kissed so hard behind closed doors
My smile on upside-down
While I kept finding ways to drown
In bottles and bars and boulevards
Beautiful men and broken down cars
In buttons and buckles and barricades
Buttons and buckles and barricades
All tied up and nowhere to turn
When I tore myself free all our bridges had burned
There was no going back again
So we split up our stuff and we split up our friends
But what they don't know is my gift to you
Costs me as long as I give it
So it can slip through the cracks or I can punch through
This silence just makes me relive it
I've been sitting with my silence
Thinking isn't this a kindness
Cuz I promised I would keep your secrets
But the skin I wore
Was slapped so hard behind closed doors
My smile on upside-down
While I kept finding ways to drown
In bottles and bars and boulevards
Beautiful men and broken down cars
In buttons and buckles and barricades
Buttons and buckles and barricades
I've been sitting with my silence
Thinking isn't this a kindness
Cuz I promised I would keep your secrets
|
||||
8. |
Silent Era
04:05
|
|
||
I've been outspoken for most of my life
I was an independent unconventional wife
I am a daughter estranged by truth
I've been the woman that I fantasized about in my youth
And I can look back at the patterns
Speckled freckled heckled by compliance
And I can feel the fire
Smoking choking stoking up my young defiance
In that silent era
To that silent era me
I've fought depression for all of my adult life
I've been a drinker, a taker, and danced to the rhythm with strife
I've been addicted to the pleasure of pain
I've been the picture, the mirror, the track and the oncoming train
And I can look back at the patterns
Speckled freckled heckled by compliance
And I can feel the fire
Smoking choking stoking up my young defiance
In that silent era
You didn't hear her but that scream left her throat
All that she had to give's on the cutting room floor
While you get your coat
She memorized her lines note for dubbed-over note
Do it again for the camera
And this time emote
And I can look back at the patterns
Speckled freckled heckled by compliance
And I can feel the fire
Smoking choking stoking up my young defiance
To be free
From what they said I could be
In that silent era
To that silent era me
|
||||
9. |
The Waltz
05:03
|
|
||
Sunrise again
And for one brief moment
I'm free and clear to start
When nobody's here
When nothing is hard
Breathing again
No longer beholden
To who I was last night
When I shed my skin
When I felt that
Bite
How do I survive such spite?
At least I know the culprit this time
That tiny little voice inside
Always swears
It wasn't me
I watch the snow
Falling through sunlight
Like I wish that I could be
Silent I'd fly
And happy I'd seem
I want to know
How to stop falling
When everything starts to melt
And tries to seep in
Past everything I've
Felt
How do I survive this hell?
I thought I knew the culprit so well
That tiny little voice won't tell
It just swears
It wasn't me
It just swears it wasn't me
It just swears it wasn't me
So I guess it's
Rinse and repeat
Once more for good measure
Take a deep breath and cry
Flirting with death
Won't keep you alive
Hold and retreat
Dancing between them
Till all of the world's a stage
So what's in a girl?
And what is on her
Page?
How do I survive these flames?
It's time to give the culprit a name
That tiny little voice I'll blame
When it swears
It wasn't me
Oh it swears it wasn't me
Swears it wasn't me
But it was
Oh it was
We both know it was
Always me
|
||||
10. |
Drive Drive Play
03:49
|
|
||
The warmth of solitary
In a winter of sound
I can feel connected
Even with no one around
The swarm of overwhelming
In a flurry of choice
I can feel rejected
Even by my own voice
Even by my own voice
Even by my own voice
But circumstance has smiled
On the introvert today
For once it isn't all about
Drive drive drive drive play
The stage can wait for me to say
I'm okay, I'm okay
The kindnesses of strangers
In a vacuum of space
I can feel beloved
Even when I hide my face
The mindlessness of doing
In a void of healthy thought
I can feel unloved
Even when I know I'm not
Even when I know I'm not
Even when I know I'm not
But circumstance has smiled
On the introvert today
For once it isn't all about
Drive drive drive drive play
The stage can wait for me to say
I'm okay, I'm okay
|
||||
11. |
Reset
03:34
|
|
||
Strip it back
All the layers and opacities
Masking incapacities
I have played many parts to the bone
Now let the beetles do their holy work
Tell the story ridge by quirk
I commit to every start
But then I wind up here again
Time for a reset to factory specs
Before I know what happens next
Under the red
Away from the lens
I get to reset and start again
Pack it in
Cut my losses and my atrophies
And my barely dry catastrophes
I can break any mold if I try
Now that the fissures are invisible
Counting every syllable
I'm convinced the story's told
But then I wind up here again
Time for a reset to factory specs
Before I know what happens next
Under the red
Away from the lens
I get to reset and start again
Start again
Start again
|
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
Streaming and Download help
Leslie Hudson recommends:
If you like Leslie Hudson, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp