Get all 6 Elaine Romanelli releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Christmas Any Time, Better By Far, We're In This Together, The Hour Before, Real Deal, and Up On The Housetop.
1. |
Song About the Trees
04:09
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The leaves are off the trees
Empty branches point to an early freeze
The warmth they strain to touch
Won’t come ‘til spring
I feel the same inside;
cold and yearning
with a pale, scarred hide
the salt you pour each day has left its sting
So I’ll go away
I may cry, but I’m keeping you at bay
I may get lonely and lost
but this has too high a cost
and I can’t stay
If you come, I’ll turn you down
I know I’ll miss you
But I can’t have you around
The flame you light in me leaks toxic fumes
You poison as you charm
You entrap me, when you hold me in your arms
You would bind my lips
Like secrets in locked rooms
So I’ll go away
I may cry, but I’m keeping you at bay
I may get lonely and lost
but this has too high a cost
and I can’t stay
You enthrall me with your touch
And our bodies align with such ease
I think I’ll always want you this much
But I can’t stay
This is crushing me
The leaves will bloom someday
They won’t stay barren
No matter what you say
They will bud with fragrant petals everywhere
I’ll survive without you near
It may be rocky
But I can find my way from here
I will rise and stretch new wings into the air
So I’ll go away
I may cry, but I’m keeping you at bay
I may get lonely and lost
but this has too high a cost
and I can’t stay
Yeah I’ll go today
I may cry, but I’m keeping you at bay
I may get lonely and lost
but this has too high a cost
You think I’m not strong
but I’ll be proving you wrong
I think I’ll flourish without
All your judgment and doubt
In my way
I’m gone today
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2. |
Lament
03:32
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He's been gone for eight months now
In a place I cannot name
I don't sleep much through the night
But I lay down just the same
Worry lays beside me
Fills my aching head
Whispers her deceptions
Offers me her dread
Please don’t teach me what it really means to cry
Cry, cry cry
I knew when I met him
He was in as a career
But now the tours are longer
And they happen every year
Battered and exhausted
He returns worse every time
One heart can only take so much
Of the view from the front line
Please don’t teach him what it really means to cry...
He talks very little
Of the things that he has seen
I talk very little
Of my half-life in between
How I barely stand it
How the fear has left me worn
How I scarcely dream now
How I turn from God in scorn
He’s supposed to come back soon
We will head out on the town
I will wear my best clothes
Pray the chopper sets him down
Pray that he can still walk
That he still can smile
Worry curls around me
She will still be here a while
Please don’t teach me what it really means to cry....
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3. |
Merry-Go-Round
03:35
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Stand on the pavement
Stare down the dusty trail
Wonder how far you could walk til the light fails
Stand at the crossroads
Stare down the empty streets
Wondering which way your head should direct your feet
Stand by the hope chest
Open the secret drawer
Stand with your brass key
Stare at the row of locked doors
Or stay on the merry-go-round
Stay buckled in so you can't leave the ground
Cling to that horse til they shut the thing down
and go round and around and around
Check with your family
Check with your horoscope
Tie on a flashlight
Tie on an extra rope
Take a few deep breaths
Think through the plans you made
Take off the training wheels
Try not to be afraid
Go for a test run
Go home and think some more
Go into hiding
Curl in a ball on the floor
Or stay on the merry-go-round
Stay buckled in so you can't leave the ground
Cling to that horse til they shut the thing down
and go round and around and around
Spinning in circles the motion intoxicates
Let yourself sink in your seat
Moving is better than standing there isn’t it
You’re doing something concrete
You’re riding a merry-go-round
Stay buckled in so you can't leave the ground
Cling to that horse even when they shut down
and go round and around and around
Just stay on the merry-go-round
Shut your eyes tight so you can't look around
Cling to that horse even when they shut down
and go round and around and around...
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4. |
Faust Revisited
04:18
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I want to be beautiful
I want to be perfect
What deal with the devil
Do I have to make
And how much will it cost me
to finally be beautiful
How extreme are the measures
I’m willing to take
Will I recognize myself once it’s done
Will you be enchanted by
what a perfect girl I have become
Will I learn to hide the old
insecurity and doubt
When I am transformed
Into someone beautiful
I know there are trade-offs
If I want to be perfect
I know that the changes
Are for my own sake
But how much will be left in
When they’re done and I’m beautiful
What parts will be real
And what parts will be fake
And what about the light
That shines from within
Will it be displaced in time
By the perfectness of my new skin
Do you think I’ll rise above
insecurity and doubt
Will I still be kind
To people less beautiful
Will all my flaws be erased
Along with all of the lines on my face
Will I be happy as never was possible
Before I became beautiful?
Beautiful
I ache to be beautiful
And I yearn to be perfect
But I wonder if maybe by now it’s too late
‘Cause I grew up with this face
Which never was beautiful
So there’s years of old feelings
They’d have to replace
And what about the light
That shines from within
Will it be displaced in time
By the perfectness of my new skin
Do you think I’ll rise above
insecurity and doubt
Can I be transformed into someone beautiful
What if I am already beautiful
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5. |
Not a Love Song
03:08
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You’ve been seducing me for years
And each time we meet you dance a little nearer
You magnetize me to stay here
You are hypnotic like a magic mirror
But my doubts swirl around
I won’t let this get off the ground
I run away
So this is not a love song
This is not a love song
This is not a love song
Not today
You have your faults, and so do I
But yours are catastrophically depressing
Yet when I’m with you, we get by
I find myself compulsively obsessing
What would I sacrifice
Is the thrill worth the price
Would I feel home at last
But this is not a love song
This is not a love song...
Not so fast
And yet I love the light you fling into the sky
I love your unsurpassable charm
I feel alive as nowhere else in life
With you
So please don’t twirl me round the floor
Do not caress the air around my shoulders
Our fit gets harder to ignore
Each dance away leaves me a little colder
You are like honey wine
Intoxicating over time
I love every taste I get
But this is not a love song...
Not yet
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6. |
Stupid Boy
04:29
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It’s a tale you know well
I don’t have to tell you
There’s a kiss on your lips
and your body flies
You feel changed
You feel liquid
You are giddy
Then he never calls again
And you have no idea why
And every time it hurts just like the first time
And you swore you were smarter now than this
And all you want to listen to are sad songs
All you want to hear about are heartbreaking stories
You only want to listen to sad songs
You only what to talk about your heart breaking slowly
Only sad songs
It’s a tale with no known happy ending
it’s not clear what he thought
when he whispered those lines
there’s no hint of remorse
just the silence
go on: call him and ask
he may never say why
And every time you hate yourself for caring
And bitterness encroaches on your mind
So all you want to listen to are sad songs...
... you only what to talk about
your heart breaking lowly
Stupid boy
Stupid boy
Why’d you woo if you don't want her
Stupid girl
Stupid girl
Why’d you give him the your power
We all know you both felt strongly
We could see your bodies shaking
You weren’t faking when it happened
Was the truth of it too much for you to take
Don’t read books
Don’t write lists
Don’t say affirmations
Could be something you did
But you can’t fix it next time
You will fall just as hard for the next one
In a pheromonal daze
And you may never know why
And it will hurt as much as all the last times
And you will long for shelter from the grief
So go ahead and listen to sad songs...
I only want to listen to sad songs
I only want to hear about heartbreaking stories
I only want to listen to sad songs
I only what to talk about my heart breaking slowly
Only sad songs
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7. |
Fly
03:32
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She came in all crumpled and deflated
She said I think that change is over-rated
Life is fine enough this way
But I said: for too long, you've been settling for Okay
And she said wait and I said why
And she said how and I said try
You have to close your eyes and take a breath and jump
And she said when and I said now
She said I'm scared, I don't know how
And I said, pack a bag and close the door and jump
And fly
And she said I need my filing cabinet
And all my underwear
And I love my kitchen table
And it won't fit in there
And I said GO and she said stop
How 'bout I try a little hop
I just can't close my eyes and take a breath and jump
I am not like you
I am not fearless through and through
I can't just pack a bag and close the door and jump
And fly
She said no thanks. I'm safe I'm comfortable
And it's too late anyway
And I'd miss my corner coffee shop
With its perfect caffe au lait.
And I said: Oh, can't you see
You've got a worry machine inside your head
And its fears weight you down
Like a load of lead
Try a little weightlessness instead
And she said wait and I said why...
And she said when and I said now
Ahe said I'm scared, I don't know how
But I will pack a bag and close the door and jump
And fly
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8. |
Naughty Lola
02:59
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like snakes in the bathtub
constant distraction
insistent impulse
yearning for action
magnets to metal
instant attraction
craving an
involuntary contraction
whisper on skin
feel the burning begin
mmm
sweet salty sin
let your body give in
mmm
naughty Lola
like chocolate or whiskey
dip just your finger
run if you want to
but a tingle will linger
savory spices
sharp satisfaction
biting your tongue at the
spreading reaction
whisper on skin
feel the burning begin
mmm
sweet salty sin
let your body give in
mmm
naughty Lola
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9. |
Unapologetic
02:55
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You don’t like my red hair
You don’t like my legs bare
You can’t stand my T-shirts
You sneer at my thrift skirts
I show off too much thigh
My makeup makes you cry
According to you there’s something wrong
with everything I put on
But I am unapologetic
I like how I look and I don’t regret it
It is your loss if you don’t get it
So take your reprobation
And walk it ‘cross the county line
You’re sure my ambition
Won’t come to fruition
'Cause I went to the wrong schools
I live by insane rules
You laugh at my paycheck
you call me a train wreck
According to you, something’s awry
with everything that I try
But I am unapologetic
Like how I live and I don’t regret it
It is your loss if you don’t get it
So take your condemnation
And walk it ‘cross the county line
I swallowed what you said
Your poison’s in my head
You taunt me when I sleep
Your hooks are buried deep
I’d hate you
But I realize
better to sympathize
You must be this broken
‘cause your dreams died unwoken
Lord, it must be painful to see
somebody living as they please
And oh, it ain’t you
It’s not you
You worry about my soul
My swearing takes its toll
If don’t go to church more
Lord knows what I’m in for
Your idea of heaven
is that my kind can’t get in
According to you I’m totally damned
for everything that I am
But I am unapologetic
I like who I am and I don’t regret it
It is your loss if you don’t get it
So take your condemnation
and walk it cross that line
‘cause I am
unapologetic
I’ll be damned if I regret it
It is your loss if you don’t get it
So take your condemnation
and shove it
where the sun don’t shine
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10. |
3,000 Miles
03:54
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Waking to a gentle breeze
Rolling in your rumpled linens
Kissing through the afternoon
Or lounging cradled in your arms
With coffee and the crossword puzzle
Humming to a bluesy tune
I’m three thousand miles
From you
I miss walking in the neighborhood
Trading all our daily stories
Basking under a sky so blue
Or shopping at the corner store
Then puttering around the kitchen
Simmering a homemade stew
I’m three thousand miles
From you
You are effortless deliciousness
Redolent of soap and sand
You unravel all my ancient riddles
Open them beneath your hands
Your hands on my skin
our breathing
the scent of two
Now I’m waking to a car alarm
Weaving in and out of strangers
Sprinting for the three or two
I’m always in a hurry here
Eating standing in the hallway
Feeling empty through and through
I’m three thousand miles
From you
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11. |
Weep Not
01:40
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Weep not
Weep not for me
I am reading by the light
With a half-writ limerick in my lap
Weep not for me
Weep not
Weep not for me
I am talking with old friends
There’s a lot of lost-lost faces here
They are coming for tea
I’m finally free of pain and sorrow
So rise and dream about tomorrow
Write a funny rhyme for me
Tell a charming tale of me
Weep not
Weep not
Weep not for me
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12. |
Real Deal
03:14
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Now it’s official and
your finger sports a little band
suspiciously like mine
I think it makes your eyes shine brighter
Just a little
Now we’re together so
it’s easier for us to show
it wasn’t just for now
nobody took a vow for practice
it’s the real deal
Now we’re united all
the papers filed at City Hall
commit us to a link
that’s harder than you’d think to sever
if we change our minds
Your mother smiles and cries
My brother rolls his eyes
Everyone says this is such a momentous occasion
But you know and I know
It felt like this long ago
Now all our friends have come
to wish us well
to share in some
libations and some laughs
to take some photographs for later
for remembering
Now we can celebrate
relax a bit, sit down, relate
some stories from before
what you said and wore the first time
that I knew I knew.
Now comes the hardest part, apparently
the heart-to-heart discussions in the night
some compromises, fights, and lonely days
it’s a lot of work
Your friend says, “don’t get mad,
but some days will be bad.
It’s not always easy you’re just at the very beginning.”
But you know, and I know
we started this long ago
Yeah you know
and I know
it felt like this long ago
Oh you know
and I know
It felt like love long ago.
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13. |
Pour Me a Drink
02:49
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It has not been a banner day
Nothing’s gone even remotely my way
I got yelled at by my ex and I spilled coffee in my tea
I got out of bed on the wrong side
and dislocated my knee
Its been like this for so long
Seems the only way things go for me is wrong
I got stepped on by a stranger
I got ripped off by my bank
All my batteries corroded, my inflatable raft sank
Poor me. Poor me! Pour me a drink
Scotch or beer or whiskey or wine
Poor me Poor me Pour me a drink
With just a little tipple I’ll feel fine.
I’ve tried pleading I’ve tried prayin
but my bad luck has no interest in strayin
It has roosted in my attic
It dug holes across my yard
It turned all my cheeses moldy
it made all my pillows hard
So I’m feeling plenty low
I don’t think there’s any further down to go
And there’s no friendly voice to cheer me
calling on the telephone
There’s no lovin arms to hold me
I’m here moping all alone
Poor me. Poor me! Pour me a drink
Vodka or tequila with lime
Poor me poor me pour me a drink
With just a little tipple I’ll feel fine.
Now don’t worry that I’m blue
You’ve got plenty of better things to do
I can handle my recovery
for I’ve made the great discovery
of a stash of cash and open corner booth
I’ll be temperate, don’t you fret
I will barely let my gullet get wet
I’ll just sip refreshing tonics like recovering alcoholics
with a tiny splash of bourbon and vermouth
Poor me. Poor me! Pour me a drink
Scotch and beer and whiskey or wine...
Poor me. Poor me! Pour me a drink
Fill the liquor up to the line
With just a little tipple I’ll feel fine
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Elaine Romanelli New York, New York
Recording Academy member Elaine Romanelli is an award-winning singer/songwriter, composer, writer, actor, and comic
performer.
She loves to dance! If you swing dance in NYC you'll run into her eventually.
Affiliations: BMI, EMC, Grammys voter, Maestra, OneLicense.
Learn more:
elaineromanelli.
com
... more
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