Get all 8 Tanya Davis releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Web, Othering, Fervour: Songs from Heartbeat, the movie, How to be Alone, Questions and Dancers, Clocks and Hearts Keep Going, Gorgeous Morning, and Make a List.
1. |
Thesaurus
04:44
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I've had this thesaurus for 10 years
and i have borrowed its ideas to make mine clear
the dictionaries are on the shelf
you can use them to figure me out
Seemingly I do not fit the description listed
be it poet, cheater, straight girl or crooked
the labels are on the boxes
you can use them, they are safe and monotonous
Somebody planted a bible in my bedside table
it is for them a truth and for me a fable
says Moses parted the waters
I'd rather stay in and swim with the dolphins
And i read the old book of rules
says I'm doing it all wrong
so I change pages into tissues
wipe my tears off
And all the things you hope I will be
they're not for me, no they're not all for me
and you could save yourself the disappointment, please
Somebody posted a checklist, but I didn't read it
because the ink was seeping into the tree beneath it
ink is to run until it is to dry and the rain will clean it
and those lists you wrote, they will have no meaning, no.
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2. |
Gorgeous Morning
04:16
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Gorgeous Morning
some of the people thought that I was crazy
for leaving all that
but they didn't see me at seven in the morning
in the months before i left
within a few minutes of opening my eyes
there was the dread of the day
sitting by my bed waiting for me to rise
and pretend like everything was okay
and it makes for bad digestion when you are crying onto your toast
and if that's how breakfast goes you know you're in for it
but i had no intentions then, go to work and come back home
my feet heavy and slow every minute of it
i could be a person climbing up the ladder
and checking the right boxes
moving through the brackets higher and higher
with more gains than losses
and i could have a cottage in a pretty spot
and make it there twice a year
all the other months in the city with my job
and my money and my tears
the glory of the morning did fade and dim
where once it was my best love and i was so grateful for it
but those days working with no passion did change all of this
and it wasn't worth the happy breakfasts that i missed
so on one gorgeous morning i told them i was leaving
and it was so relieving to say it out
and i worked hard all afternoon and the weeks before the leaving
until finally one evening was my last walk out
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3. |
Trusty Umbrella
03:34
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Trusty Umbrella
you are the clouds rolling in on my picnic
you are the rain on my parade
good thing i brought with me my trusty umbrella
and revelers with just as much faith
you call and cancel the party
so i draw a map to a secret spot
you said nobody is coming
i said you're wrong
and i think that things have a way of unfolding
there will be a scintillating side
and i will bring this idealist to your doorstep
and the sun will shine
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4. |
Art
02:52
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art
I wondered what would be the worth of my words in the world
if i write them and then recite them are they worth being heard
just because i like them does that mean i should mic them
and see what might unfurl
i think of the significance of my opinions here
is it significant to be giving them does anybody care
just because i'm into this does that mean i should live like it
and really do i dare
art, art i want you
art you make it pretty hard not too
and my heart is trying hard here to follow you
but i can't always tell if i ought to
so i pondered the point of my art in this life
if i make it will someone take it and think it's genuine
will they be glad that i did 'cause they got something good out of it
will they leave me and be any more inspired
i question the outcome of the outpouring of myself
if i tell everyone my stories will this keep me healthy and well
will it give me purpose, to this world some sort of service
is it worth it, how can i tell
art, art...
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5. |
The River Runs
04:04
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i do not mean to write a sad lament
you haven't even broken my heart yet
but you might
i anticipate the pain but stay in spite
the lion likes the fire, that's the truth
you're a high, wild river and i'm shy of you
still i sit and preen where you can see me
i never did hide very easy
you said yes then no then yes then no then yes
i said ok, i'll take what i can get
i built a raft so that i could guide myself
our erratic waters, i would go by myself
but i am a dreadful carpenter and it is breaking down
i have a tender heart in there afraid to drown
all the fragile people
going through the motions
what else should we do
what else should i do
be as inconclusive as you need
and you and me will do this fancy free
the river runs and you will not tame it
hearts break, just face it
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6. |
Baby Lion
03:00
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Baby lion
henry's dead
you laid him in his resting bed
you dug a grave i won't ever forget
this mother has been crying
since you broke the news of my baby lion
you broke the distance with your good timing
and he loved you
just like i do
little body that you found
said you thought of me when you laid him down
and now
you and henry
in my memory
will be, will be
on our busy corner
black kittens and friendships flourished
and we said how could we want more than this
a trip to the big city
had me and you drifting
and i wanted to fix things
but i didn't know how
trip to the country to save my soul
and i when i come home you came right over
oh my tender heart
for your precious part and your shoulder
if my little love was to leave then at least he lived here happy
and if we were to grow distant, bee, than at least he brought you back to me
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7. |
Fortress
03:07
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fortress
i built myself up, a tower of nonchalance
for hours and art and self love i sat in and wrote songs
then i let down my drawbridge
when i saw intrigue i said "come on in"
she ransacked my palace, ate my food and was gone again
so i built me an army of words and of chaste conviction
it guarded my heart while it strengthened my mission
and i rearranged my fortress
made love stay out on the porches
and got back to the task of unravelling truth from fiction
every little brick that i use to build this castle with
is gold and black and it attracts the warmth of the sun
and so every ray that hits as i stay here inside of it
brings me more heat than could be surpassed my anyone
all of the knights who promise poems, romance and chivalry
and all of the princesses who say they may fall in love with me
can ride in on gallant horses
my trumpets still will blast their choruses
and i will give them my heart but for myself save more of it
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8. |
Firebug
04:14
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Firebug
did you lay your light on the grass, did you just lay down to rest
are you having a festival, i've never seen so many of you, such sweetness
firebug, lightning fly
i went walking down a tunnel dirt road
my friend swung on a tree swing, so high he rose
we climbed upon a woodpile
and imagined good photos
party people were drunk and stoned
it was a special evening so i was both
we were on our way home, i broke open on the road
some hope was saved 'cause you shone
firebug, lightning fly
you and the crickets, i watched and i listened
and i didn't want to go to bed, didn't want to go to bed
those summer visions put my heart back in it
and i hope i can remember this, hope i can remember it
so i made a vow in the field, your electric serenade
as eclectic beauty revealed in the grass and on the stage
i signed a new deal with the light of my life while behind sweet music played
and firefly would you be my guide if i ever stay
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9. |
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Where the ocean meets the greenery
i'll meet you in the highlands
leave your boat at the bottom and climb the rocks
and we can roam around the island
and when we're ready to go, we'll both set off
i'll come dressed for the weather
and i'll bring some extra clothes for you
and if we get cold we'll squeeze together
i'll sing a song you could fall asleep to
you bring a really good story to read
and we'll take turns saying it aloud
when we reach the climax we'll both be intrigued
and when it is over we'll both come down
i usually feel empty when a good book is through
but i don't feel empty if i'm with you
we'll talk about the plot and i'll tell you what i thought
and this will end between us when it is time to
we'll both start the fires and we'll both keep 'em going
the wind will blow up to our cliffs so high
and i would like to listen while you play a woodwind instrument
and it's okay if you make me cry
off in the distance big ships and little boats
in the swell of the waves off the coast
they watch for sea monsters, they rock upon the waters
and watch for the light to guide 'em home
people will tell you it's a far-fetched dream
and it is best if you just stay away from me
what if i told them i would give you anything
real as well as make believe
this is my daydream and i'm sharing it with you
'cause it is lovely and you are too
and if you want to meet me where the ocean meets the greenery
i'll go there and wait for you
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10. |
Us This Day
03:25
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Us this day
give us this day, our daily baked good
or whatever it is that makes us feel good
if you kneel to pray on slats on wood
and i walk streets at break of day to see what i could
is this not the same, so long as we all worship as we should
give me the earth and all of her daughters
and you can have yours, your son and his father
i'll worship my idols, you burn candles at your altar
and we'll all get along just like our gods wanted
give me some wine, sure, but i'll take mine chilled
and i'll try not to get too drunk, on your hymn books spill
i'll sing your songs for the harmony and the thrill
this building with its organ and this congregation's will
lilting voices and the rafters that they fill
give us this day and pray if you want to
to each our own way that is all that i want from you
give me the peace that you have been dying to have
and i will give you respect and i will expect it back
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11. |
Do More
03:00
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Do more
smoke less and do more
drink less, go dancing for a longer time
you doubt lots but what for
so you have more excuses than you could already find
eat 'till you are too full
and then you are too tired
you do have a very strong will
but the engine never gets fired
won't you turn it on
won't you keep it coming
won't you fire it up
keep it running
think more than you do
gaze out windows, guess what people are up to
do they have more meetings than you
you could find meaning outside of the pursuit
and the image that you've been living in
and the lists you don't cross off
they're not here now, they're limiting
why don't you give it up
won't you turn it on...
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Tanya Davis Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island
Tanya Davis is a writer and artist living on Epekwitk / Prince Edward Island. She writes poems, songs, monologues, speeches, and other things.
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