Keeping Me Alive

http://www.stereogum.com/archives/mp3/new-sally-shapiro-he-keeps-me-alive-stereogum-prem.html

Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

"They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,  
    Love and desire and hate:   
I think they have no portion in us after   
    We pass the gate.         

They are not long, the days of wine and roses:   
    Out of a misty dream   
Our path emerges for a while, then closes   
    Within a dream."

Architecture

"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"

Obscure

"Darling you will always be around
Whether my mood's up or if it's down
In dreams I try to take you far away
But you never stay
No you never stay"

Alectronic is Gilbert O'Sullivan (naturally) and you can all claim your five pounds.

Bars

"Drink up, baby, stay up all night
With the things you could do, you won't but you might
The potential you'll be that you'll never see
The promises you'll only make"

It Never Happens To Me...

"Love's just a door that's locked and there's no key"




The Assembly

Half Full...

"Half full of happiness

Record playing Lover's Game

Just room for loneliness


As empty days overflow"

I'm just a zoot woman.
When are you going to tour, Mr Price?

Dance Away...

"Loneliness is a crowded room
Full of open hearts turned to stone
All together all alone
All at once my whole world had changed
Now i´m in the dark, off the wall"
...
"Now I know I must walk the line
Until I find an open door
There was I - many times a fool
I hope and pray, but not too much
Out of reach is out of touch
All the way is far enough"

My Way...

"No, no use in taking their time or in wasting two dimes

On a call to God knows who

When all you feel is the rain and it's hard to be vain

When no person looks at you

So just be gracious and wait in the queue


So when do I get to sing "My Way"?

When do I get to feel like Sinatra felt?

When do I get to sing "My Way"?

In heaven or hell...?"

Tenants

"You are just a tenant here, you say

living in and out of this life

as cheaply as you can.



I sit here in the darkness

gently

Like an old woman

Thoughts knot and click like brittle bones

doing too much

Trying to question all of this

Trying so hard to fade out

in the blackness

all of the fear

all of the tears that bring us to this..."

Anne Clark, "The Sitting Room" (1982)

Useless

"Now he wants her to dress as if you couldnt guess,
He desires to impress his associates,
But he's part ugly beast and hellenic deceased,
So she finds that the mixture is hard to deny.

What shall we do, what shall we do with all this useless beauty?
All this useless beauty"

Stormy...

"I am just a dreamer,

but you are just a dream,

You could have been

anyone to me.

Before that moment

you touched my lips

That perfect feeling

when time just slips

Away between us

on our foggy trip.



You are like a hurricane

There's calm in your eye.

And I'm gettin' blown away

To somewhere safer

where the feeling stays.

I want to love you but

I'm getting blown away."

Big In Japan

"I had no illusions
That I'd ever find a glimpse
Of summer's heatwaves in your eyes
You did what you did to me
Now it's history, I see
Here's my comeback on the road again"

[sigh]

It's easy when you're big in Japan...