1. |
||||
Blank page talking back at me
“Hey girl, you’ve got some audacity”
White slate, an accusation
“Who gave you permission?”
“And who do you think you are?
Just who do you think you are?”
I’m just a soul searching for grace
In a photograph, in the clay
In a poem, in the paint
In a stone, on a stage
These hands perform an act of love
With every pen stroke, every brush
That’s all I am and that’s enough
All I am and that’s enough
Lights up, shadows mock my worth
“Who says they will care about your words?”
Face flush, the fire down deep
Confronts the doubt that would drown me
“Who do you think you are?
Just who do you think you are?”
I’m just a soul searching for grace
In a photograph, in the clay
In a poem, in the paint
In a stone, on a stage
These hands perform an act of love
With every pen stroke, every brush
That’s all I am and that’s enough
All I am and that’s enough
I wrote my fears out on a list
And it was dark and bottomless
Dive in right now, don’t stop to think
Treasure is always buried deep
|
||||
2. |
She Writes It
03:48
|
|||
All I own on the lawn
outside my best friend’s house
All I was sold for ones in my pocket
One by one, here and gone
The scene is emptied out
All the I said I wanted emptied out
Windows down, driving south
trailing the casualties
Broken hearts, razor sharp on the pavement
“Warning: girl on the run
from someone else’s dreams”
I can save me or save them, I’m so sorry
So I come to the end of a page
This story’s not done
And in my hand there’s a pen to write it
There’s only one way to find out what comes next
Our heroine takes her pen and she writes it
Boxes high, brand new life
it’s up to me to fill
No one left here to ask for permission
Do or die, on a wire
a twisted kind of thrill
Traded predestination for brazen will
Is this a tragedy
Satiric comedy
Whatever, it’s up to me
It’s still a mystery
This non-fiction fantasy
Maybe it’s a great love story
|
||||
3. |
Elevate
03:48
|
|||
Look at you, standing up there
a quivering lip you pray no one can see
but it’s beautiful to me
Opening your mouth, words you have
chiseled on your heart come tumbling out
doesn’t matter how they hear it
Look at you standing, look at you
Look at you standing
You elevate me
You power, it makes me soar
Just seeing you make it: maybe I can
You dared and it raised me
I’m seeing from higher up
Just watching you brave it elevates me
Look at you, filling that floor
you limbs create the wind that sweeps me up
you move because your body must
A stumble there, you hope the watchers are unaware
but I know you can fly
my heart leaps with you every time
Look at you dancing, look at you
Look at you dancing
You elevate me
You power, it makes me soar
Just seeing you make it: maybe I can
You dared and it raised me
I’m seeing from higher up
Just watching you brave it elevates me
And it’s just what I needed to see
Someone else to help me believe
Don’t wait to be fearless
|
||||
4. |
Little Life
04:49
|
|||
You and I made this moment
Stacked it high on the apex
Of the ones that came before it
A little to the left, a little more, that’s just right
Step back, admire the work we’ve done
Your hand brushes mine, a little thrill spills steady
Across my face into a smile
You and I made this moment
Stacked it high on the apex
Of the ones that came before it
We made a little life out of it
Out of the corner of my eye, you in the next room
Low light, working the rhythm in your head
The waves pulsing these four walls and my body
I always wished for this content
You and I made this moment
Stacked it high on the apex
Of the ones that came before it
We made a little life out of it
Made our little life out of it
Holding on to each other, hanging on for dear life
Braced against the piercing winds of youth
Wholly unprepared for what would be required
You believed in me and I in you
|
||||
5. |
The Stillness
04:12
|
|||
Storm out of nowhere
Stalled out, pulled over
Where was I going anyway?
Where was I going anyway?
Small voice from he corner
Hollers in the thunder
“Whatever weighs on you can wait
Why don’t you come, sit, and stay?”
Right here, in the downpour
the stillness in an uproar
and it’s calling out, calling out
The water rushes over
I breathe in to come closer
to the stillness now
calling out to me
Late last summer
four leaf clover
Was it a secret wish I made?
Was it me calling for the rain?
Now I’m here, in the downpour
the stillness in an uproar
and it’s calling out, calling out
The water rushes over
I breathe in to come closer
to the stillness now
calling out to me
Been caught upstream
In a trance routine
It’s been waiting for me
The old whisper now
collected in clouds
washes me till I’m clean
Here, in the downpour
the stillness in an uproar
and it’s calling out, calling out
The water rushes over
I breathe in, coming closer
to the stillness now
calling out to me
|
||||
6. |
Roaring Flame
03:34
|
|||
So the world’s on fire
But still here we are
Holding open hearts
To the roaring flame
Burning hot and higher
This is who we are
We are open hearts
We’re a roaring flame
No more waiting
For something to happen
We are making it every day
No more praying
For something to save us
We are burning to light the way
So the waters rise
Grieving mothers cry
We do not stand by
Drowning in our fate
Take your one hot life
Make it burn so bright
Fire with fire we fight
We’re a roaring flame
No more waiting
For something to happen
We are making it every day
No more praying
For something to save us
We are burning to light the way
So the world’s on fire
But still here we are
Holding open hearts
To the roaring flame
|
||||
7. |
Let's Pretend
03:57
|
|||
Let’s pretend that we are pixie queens in a hidden blue-green land
There is no fear: we dance and sing until the sun lies down to mark the end of the day
Dinner time, and then for sleep
Let’s pretend our beds are ships set out on fearful rolling seas
But we’ll be safe, ‘cause nothing can destroy our sister fleet
And we will said the seas of dreams and wake again to a brand-new morning
Whatever happened?
Whatever happened?
This was the world we made
This was our great escape
This was the promise said to get us through
Let’s make our eyes un-see
How yellowed with age it’s been
Come on, let’s make believe it’s all still true
‘Cause I still need you
Let’s pretend we can be anything imagination schemes
And words like worry, doubt, and pain are banned from pulling at the seams
And when the sadness comes, it gets wiped away with a kiss on the cheek
Whatever happened?
Whatever happened?
This was the world we made
This was our great escape
This was the promise said to get us through
Let’s make our eyes un-see
How yellowed with age it’s been
Come on, let’s make believe it’s all still true
‘Cause I still need you
I need you more than ever
These seas are darker than we ever could have known
Depth and distance grow
You’re still the only one who knows
Let’s pretend our beds are ships set out on fearful rolling seas
But we’ll be safe, ‘cause nothing can destroy our sister fleet
And we will said the seas of dreams and wake again to a brand-new morning
|
||||
8. |
Come Away
03:51
|
|||
Do you know my voice?
Can you hear beneath the noise?
I come quietly, like in your sleep
Come away
I’ve known you for years
Since you heard with younger ears
No, I never left
I make my same request
Come away, come away
If you come, I cannot promise you’ll be safe
But if you come, I’ll be the voice guiding your way
And if you come, the world will open like the daybreak
Come away, come away
Yes, there will be danger
On which the strength of love is measured
You will praise the path when we plant our flag
Come away, come away
If you come, I cannot promise you’ll be safe
But if you come, I’ll be the voice guiding your way
And if you come, the world will open like the daybreak
Come away, come away
|
||||
9. |
Last Night Ever
04:01
|
|||
Last day
Did you know it
Like a secret goodbye
Plans made
Orchestrated
Or just the mark of your life?
Last hours
Could you feel them
Like a weight on your limbs?
As you pounded
To the finish
Or was that just how you lived?
If this is the last night ever
I don’t want to say I never
Loved so hard that I fell
Or lived true to myself
Don’t want to say I never took the leap
Or said the words
If this is the last night ever on earth
Last minutes
Of sunlight
You could’ve sat and soaked it in
But you turned up
Your own fire
And we are still feeling it
If this is the last night ever
I don’t want to say I never
Loved so hard that I fell
Or lived true to myself
Don’t want to say I never took the leap
Or said the words
If this is the last night ever on earth
You light the way
Light years away
Through time and space
You are still beaming
|
||||
10. |
Particle Collision
03:41
|
|||
What comes after this
Can a night be carried with us
Beyond the hour the stars go out?
Will my ears forget
Little bit by little bit, like a doppler effect
how magic sounds?
A particle collision
Now I’m a different person
I walk with higher vision
Away from here
There’s a piece of you
In the figure of the truth
That has made itself a home in me
Even if we never
Meet again on earth
There’s a virgin universe conceived
A particle collision
Now I’m a different person
I walk with wider vision
Away from here
Ancient words said:
two or three together open space that’s holy
I may not know what to believe
But what I know is
You have changed me
|
Shannon Curtis Tacoma, Washington
Shannon Curtis is a Tacoma-based artist hailing from California.
Streaming and Download help
If you like Shannon Curtis, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp