contemporary postcolonial mambo song
Well Jo’anna she runs a country
She runs in Durban and the Transvaal
She makes a few of her people happy, oh
She don’t care about the rest at all
She’s got a system they call apartheid
It keeps a brother in a subjection
But maybe pressure can make Jo’anna see
How everybody could a live as one
(Chorus:)
Gimme hope, Jo’anna
Hope, Jo’anna
Gimme hope, Jo’anna
‘Fore the morning come
Gimme hope, Jo’anna
Hope, Jo’anna
Hope before the morning come
I hear she make all the golden money
To buy new weapons, any shape of guns
While every mother in black Soweto fears
The killing of another son
Sneakin’ across all the neighbours’ borders
Now and again having little fun
She doesn’t care if the fun and games she play
Is dang’rous to ev’ryone
(Chorus)
She’s got supporters in high up places
Who turn their heads to the city sun
Jo’anna give them the fancy money
Oh to tempt anyone who’d come
She even knows how to swing opinion
In every magazine and the journals
For every bad move that this Jo’anna makes
They got a good explanation
(Chorus)
Even the preacher who works for Jesus
The Archbishop who’s a peaceful man
Together say that the freedom fighters
Will overcome the very strong
I wanna know if you’re blind Jo’anna
If you wanna hear the sound of drums
Can’t you see that the tide is turning
Oh don’t make me wait till the morning come
(Chorus)
the new year
so this is the new year.
and i don’t feel any different.
the clanking of crystal
explosions off in the distance, in the distance
so this is the new year
and I have no resolutions
for self assigned penance
for problems with easy solutions
so everybody put your best suit or dress on
let’s make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
as thirty dialogues bleed into one
i wish the world was flat like the old days
then i could travel just by folding a map
no more airplanes, or speedtrains, or freeways
there’d be no distance that can hold us back.
there’d be no distance that could hold us back
there’d be no distance that could hold us back
so this is the new year
give my regards to soul and romance
the new album by the killers is the best thing i’ve heard for a very very long time.
do the right thing, buy it.
oh my bandit queen
as the sun is sinking low
and the evening’s tucked in tow
on the horizon, my true love I see.
she ain’t fancy, she ain’t fine
while her fingers number only nine
she’s the belle of the ball of the insurgency.
she’s my Bandit Queen, lain beneath the moon
in a bandit cave, a blanket laid for two
if I could find a way to your hideaway by the sea
o’ Bandit Queen, steal away to me.
somewhere on a mountain, by a starry water fountain
in an alcove hid by some trees
amidst a pile of treasure, reclining at her leisure,
my ladylove sniffs as the breeze.
and sitting up, she adjusts her turban
and takes another swig from a bottle of bourbon
and listening to the whistling of a train at station
odds are it will never reach its destination.
’cause the Bandit Queen, astride her steed will ride
o’ let me be the on to lay within your theivin’ arms tonight.
she’s my Bandit Queen, lain beneath the moon
in a bandit cave, there’s a blanket laid for two
if I could find a way to your hideaway by the sea
o’ Bandit Queen, steal away to me.
Cath…
Cath, she stands, with a well-intentioned man.
But she can’t relax, with his hand on the small of her back.
And as the flash bulbs burst,
She holds a smile, like someone would hold a crying child.
And soon everybody will ask, what became of you?
‘Cause your heart was dying fast, and you didn’t know what to do.
Cath, it seems that you’re living someone else’s dream.
In a hand-me-down wedding dress,
and the things that could have been, all repressed.
But you said your vows, and you closed the door
on so many men who would have loved you more.
And soon everybody will ask what became of you
‘Cause your heart was dying fast, and you didn’t know what to do
The whispers that it won’t last roll up and down the pews.
But if their hearts were dying that fast,
They’d have done the same as you.
And I’d have done the same as you.
title and registration
i spent the first fifteen minutes overawed. then as i found my feet i spent the remainder of the concert scrambling for every chance to record the memory of the night, bellowing my heart out to every single song on the set, and wiping the few solitary teardrops at the most favourite ones. no one could hear me, and in this loneliness i found strength.
more than once, i prayed that the lights never come back on. i felt like i never wanted to leave the comforting darkness. plus i had my world where i was all too singular, alone, and away from others. the little number 51 seat. and i would have let the neon lights and cymbal beats and guitar riffs take me away.
(not so) amazing discovery of the week
the itunes store is finally, FINALLY available for singapore! that means i can buy music legally (should the need arise), and also download an unlimited amount of free apps for the iphone, when i get my hands on one.
update @ 12.09pm:
shit i still can’t download music legally.
you’ve gotta spend some time, love.
death cab for cutie is coming to singapore. yes. singapore.
i’ll jump around in sheer ecstacy and joy after i get over the shock (a most pleasant shock, of course.)
(update at 1.58am)
i’m starting to feel the buzz already. (displays penchant for understatement)
you look so defeated
and so, i got a queen-sized bed all to myself now.
you used to think that someone would come along
and lay beside you in the space that they belong.
other side of the mattress;
the boxsprings stayed like new
but what’s the point of holding on
to what never gets used
other than a sick desire for self-abuse?
here i dreamt i was an architect
by the decemberists
And here I dreamt I was a soldier
And I marched the streets of Birkenau
And I recall in spring
The perfume that the air would bring
To the indolent town
Where the barkers call the moon down
The carnival was ringing loudly now
And just to lay with you
There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do
Save lay my rifle down
And try one, and try two
Guess it always comes down to
Alright, it’s ok, guess it’s better to turn this way
And I am nothing of a builder
But here I dreamt I was an architect
And I built this balustrade
To keep you home, to keep you safe
From the outside world
But the angles and the corners,
Even though my work is unparalleled,
They never seemed to meet
This structure fell about our feet
And we were free to go
And try one, and try two
Guess it always comes down to
Alright, ok, guess it’s better to turn this way
And here in Spain I am a Spaniard
I will be buried with my marionettes
Countess and courtesan
Will fall beneath my tender hand
When their husbands were not around
But you, my soiled teenage girlfriend
Or are you furrowed like a lioness
And we are vagabonds
We travel without seatbelts on
We live this close to death
And try one, and try two
I guess it always comes down to
Alright, it’s ok, guess it’s better to turn this
But I won, so you lose
Guess it always comes down to
Alright, it’s ok, guess it’s better to turn this way
coldplay rebels
looking at the lyrics for the new coldplay songs, i thought for one second that “WHOOO the decemberists have a new album and i didn’t even know!”
even the first two lines off violet hill go like this:
Was a long and dark December
From the rooftops I remember
clarification: i love the decemberists.
———————–
update: coldplay and the decemberists are under the same label! (capitol records)
the new year
so everybody put your best suit or dress on,
let’s make believe that we are wealthy for just this once.
lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn,
as thirty dialogues bleed into one.
i wish the world was flat like the old days,
so I could travel just by folding a map.
no more airplanes or speed-trains or freeways,
there’d be no distance that could hold us back.
the world was a mess but my hair was perfect
my ears are still ringing due to the premium seating position, and one hour on i’m still high.
for reasons unknown
i’ve always kinda liked the killers but i’ve never realised just how bloody good sam’s town is. until now.
narrow stairs..
Bixby Canyon Bridge, I Will Possess Your Heart, No Sunlight, Cath…, Talking Bird, You Can Do Better Than Me, Grapevine Fires, Your New Twin Sized Bed, Long Division, Pity And Fear, The Ice Is Getting Thinner.
May 13.
wooilovedeathcab!
rehab
“they try to make me go to rehab, but i say no, no, err okay fine yes”
