A Joanna Newsom cover recorded on my slightly out-of-tune old piano…
Archive for April, 2008
clam, crab, cockle, cowrie
Monday, April 7th, 2008a tour of ‘the blue door’
Monday, April 7th, 2008Here is a quick peek round the little room where I spend most of my time…
as.if.i.am
Monday, April 7th, 2008When I lived in San Francisco back in 1999 I communicated with a group of close friends via haiku and posted them to a website I ran called http://as.if.i.am… this by they…
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10:36 GMT -08:00 17/8/99 robin g
nicotine stained eyes
survey the crude neon
back on the road
happy meal
hypocrisy on a plate
i need more ketchup
tick tick
tick
tick tick tick
19:38 GMT 13/8/99 hannah w
yellow plastic wire
outside the raindrop window
cold custard slices
10:32 GMT -010:00 11/8/99 robin g
another misty morning
so fast and numb
the tea bag burst
the moment was
captured in a couple of
syl la bles
rotating fan
moves the air around me
where too next?
missed the eclipse
closed my eyes
wow
13:16 GMT -05:00 3/8/99 brian
i saw her sitting
under sodium lights that
could not hide her eyes
04:06 GMT -08:00 30/7/99 susie t
motorized wheelchair
careening paraplegic
ran right over me
18:03 GMT -08:00 26/7/99 robin g
pieces of purple
couldn’t face monday morning
kamikaze cup
cars cars cars cars cars
cars cars cars cars cars cars cars
watch the smoke rising
23:46 GMT 22/7/99 mark s
sun is shining
birds are singing
shit, there’s a tank
08:36 GMT 21/7/99 hannah w
sit on the pavement
people stare as they rush by
an outsider now.
09:39 GMT +08:00 21/7/99 robin g
head up, eyes wide shut
brain going boom boom boom boom
no doughnuts for you
english breakfast tea
(the way englishmen like it)
what a load of shit
14:52 GMT +01:00 21/7/99 david h
lost in the pictures
colouring in was boring
i wanted to paint
15:208 GMT -08:00 20/7/99 susie t
sun is shining
clock is ticking on the wall
voices in my head
boot up and turn on
world wide web superhighway
i’m strapped in and wired
i kiss you goodnight
lights out and i go to sleep
sunrise you are gone
10:08 GMT -08:00 19/7/99 robin g
some fluff on my shirt.
i did not notice it yesterday,
where did it come from?
lovely purple cup…..
but no english tea bags.
another still life.
tall shiny metal.
electric shock door handle.
in need of gloves.
11:37 GMT 16/7/99 hannah w
- i cannot stop counting syllables now (10)
haikus for robin
going to be boring as
I lack imagination
Happy and cheerful
Cheerful and happy and bright
Sitting at a screen
10:29 GMT -08:00 16/7/99 robin g
the city below.
view from leafy balcony
a grey morning mist
another week gone
and another week ahead
when will it be now?
12:45 GMT 16/7/99 david h
thanks, i enjoyed it
in a more than cliched way.
keep up the haikus.
writing my first one
a rather sensitive ten,
i couldn’t quite get the hang of it!
1:06 GMT -08:00 15/7/99 robin g
could be anywhere,
outside it’s america.
have a nice day, y’all.
how happy he looks
laughing listlessly alone.
give that man a dime.
chocolate brownie.
pick the crumbs off the wrapper,
lots of E numbers.
sitting at my square desk
surrounded by beige plastic.
think nothing of it.
stoked acoustic photos
Sunday, April 6th, 2008
the new website is live
Saturday, April 5th, 2008After a few days of geeking out, I have now put my nice shiny new website online, to go with my nice shiny new album. Please let me know if it plays up on any of your computers.
I have uploaded and will continue to upload stuff from the old site and various other nooks and crannies.
I am kinda excited about finally having all my lyrics, poems, and other stuff in one place – mainly so I don’t lose them and can find them quickly when needed.
The site has been built using wordpress which I knew nothing about until three days ago but have been hugely impressed with and would recommend. Do take a peek if you are into knowing about that kind of stuff.
the suitor’s ballyhoo
Saturday, April 5th, 2008Tell me do you see me as you close your eyes at night;
Painted on your eyelids as you’re turning out the light?
Your voice spins in my mind – it’s been wearing through the grooves.
We’ve been intimately distant and I still don’t get the rules.
I want you, girl
Last week I wrote a letter now I’m rereading it through.
I wasted all those fancy words – I just meant “I love you”.
So forgive my confusion, dear, won’t you understand,
That sometimes knowing what to say slips right out of my hands.
I’ve never met a mind so fancy free as yours before,
I was busy at the books, while you were danced by the door.
And somewhere in the middle there is love and common ground,
So I sweep away the leaves and we can keep dancing about.
I lie here playing out the scene a hundred million times,
What you will be wearing and the beauty in your eyes.
There’s no time like the present so I’m reaching for the phone
But you’ve never cared for mornings and there’s places I should go
The horses left with elvis and they rode into the sun,
Two dots on the horizon, strained my eyes and they were gone.
It’s been a torrid day, I’ve been waiting for your call
Sometimes I more than wonder if you care for me at all,
As I walk on Church Street the last light fades away
It’s getting darker early now and winters on the way.
Something’s gotten missing, the puzzle is upside down.
The Guinness didn’t clear my head it just brought on the clouds.
The moon it whispered in my ear and kept me from my dreams.
The silhouettes around my room are never what they seem.
‘You and me’ or ‘me and you’ said either way around,
Would surely make such sense in this cold unforgiving town.
I love you, girl.
five
Saturday, April 5th, 2008Winter sun on two cold feet.
First light of the day finds me here.
Leaves are falling from the trees.
Make my way down Amhurst Road
With my routine.
I have been a fool over you.
I have been a fool over you
My oh my, my oh my
The wise man built his house on the solid rock.
Easier said than done, easier said than done.
When it comes watch out, don’t lose your feet.
Easier said than done, easier said than done.
I have been a fool over you.
I have been a fool over you
My oh my, my oh my
I wonder how you are, I wonder how you’ve been.
Is it working out how you hoped it would?
I have been a fool over you.
I have been a fool over you
My oh my, my oh my
swan song
Saturday, April 5th, 2008Why do I stand here getting burnt
By the embers of this dying dream,
When all around day it is breaking
And the fire didn’t help me to sleep.
Maybe it’s time for our swan song
Or a pheonix to rise from the deep,
Maybe it’s time that your skin and it’s charms
Are consigned to the pocket full of memories I keep.
Memories which come out on a rainy day
And remind me that I have lived;
I worked pretty hard to arrive at this day
And still feel I have love to give.
I could toss one more branch to the fire –
My skin it still craves for the heat
But I heard someone sing that a moth never knows
That the bright burning candle won’t make it complete
And will the angels be watching
If I head one time to the flames?
Up late at night, cloaked by the stars,
Chasing the flickering silhouette of your frame.
Today I washed both my eyelids
And talked with the mice and the moon.
Tonight we’re entwined together in my mind –
I wonder do you think of me too?
Maybe it’s time for a swan song
Or a pheonix to rise from the deep,
Perhaps with a smile I could bid you farewell
Then we’ll head different ways down the street.
only the missile
Saturday, April 5th, 2008The punches come fast and I fall in the ring.
All I can do now is laugh, cry, or sing.
I’ll tell you the story and a couple of things
That have been running in rings round my mind
It was one of those days when the lights all turn red
And the pills just won’t clear all the pain from your head
You wish that you hadn’t of got out of bed
‘Cos the shit sure is flying your way
Second hand news at an unwelcome time,
Your brain’s clogging up
Soon you’re losing your mind
You’re wondering if fate could be any less kind
When she suddenly twists the knife in.
The moment it passed with the help of a friend,
A couple of strangers and this song that I penned.
My hearts is in tact and my minds on the mend.
I don’t plan to do that again.
The sun’s given up on this god awful day
And my pain with the light is now fading away.
Somewhere in Kilburn I silently play
An ode to the tracks of my tears.
A jack in the box I come springing right back,
I pull on these strings for my counter attack
Today I feel sure I can take any flak
The world might be sending my way.
So give me your hopes and then tell me your fears
And leave all the rest in a pile over there
They’ll fit like a dream with these chords I have dear
As I dance in a dream round this town.
women
Saturday, April 5th, 2008Women on my women mind all the women time
Women fucking women hell
Think about women something else
Like the women work I need to women do.
Or my women family or need my women support right women now
Or the women dirt that’s gathering women up there on the shelf.
But it’s not that women simple women no.
Money on my money mind all the money time
money fucking money hell
Think about money something else
Like the money work I need to money do.
Or my money family or need my money support right money now
Or the money dirt that’s gathering money up there on the shelf.
But it’s not that money simple money no.
And it’s money women, women, money,
money, money, women, women, women on my mind!
And it’s money women, women, money,
money, money, women, women, women all the time!
And it’s money women, women, money,
money, money, women, women, women on my mind!
I can’t get money women women money out of my head!