Category: Song-a-Day 2021

This is Katie’s fave song of mine. Well it was the last time she told me. My oeuvre is large enough at this point that I have to say MY favourite is ‘the next one…. and the one after that, and who cares anyway, it’s all about how it lands.’ So here’s something for bisexual gals errywhere.

For she is a healer
who sees to the heart
a friend who has always
taken my part
though miles lie between us
I knew from the start
Her voice will sustain me
her love is now part of the home that is feeling
and not just a place
for me to park my belongings
and rest from the race
our home is the earth as it circles in space

we lovers have learned to escape from our words
to nourish the peace and attend to the hurts
to know who we love and will never desert

I long to be with her, and never let go
but life isn’t simple, or we’d never grow
to most of life’s longings, the answer is ‘no’
I treasure the mem’ries we made out of the
snow that is transformed by the weather and nature’s design
from crystalline enchantment to something as fine
as the mist on the mirror that once framed your face

we lovers have learned to escape from our words
to nourish the peace and attend to the hurts
to know who we love and will never desert

I wrote this for a friend and her lover and they promptly broke up.

long distance relationships I tell ya

She had the most beautiful tie dye outfits! and anything else gets under the zip of lips.

This won’t mean anything to anyone who doesn’t have an early model yellow Korg Kaossilator

new tune:

L06/G09/C_/120bpm/5ths

Play starts in the exact middle. Slide fingers between the top right and bottom left corners of the touch screen. Describe acute triangles with your finger. Go wild. After a couple of minutes park your finger just to the right of the top middle and leave it there til fadeout.

‘cheerful cheerful movement’

Well I’m never at a loss for something to say
but a strange thing happened to me today
I may know every word in the dictionary
but all of a sudden they are all very
inadequate to convey
what I want to say
and I guess I never felt this way
and I guess I never felt this way

Isn’t it romantic
isn’t it a thrill
just to watch you walking
just to catch a smile
Day and night I pray
for the perfect thing to say
and I guess I never felt this way
and I guess I never felt this way

Isn’t it romantic
isn’t it a joke
that I never feel things
like ordinary folk
let this be a lesson
for those who like to talk
you’d better keep your mouth shut
if you can’t walk the walk
Cause after all the hormones
after all the play
you gotta do the work
so the FUN won’t go away!

I know how I feel
but the words run astray
I can look at you now
and I can honestly say
that what I feel is true
and I mean it from today
and I guess I never felt this way
I guess I never felt this way

wrote this for a crush in Montréal, so 1995
The other thing that’s important about this song is that I yelled at the kids to leave me alone so I could write it and with sad little faces they brought me paper and a pencil so I could write the words down and did I feel like a shitheel. IT IS NO FUN TO LIVE WITH SOMEONE CREATIVE when they are in the throes and cranky with it. I’ve thanked them both for it since.

this got written on the same day as Catnip on my Shoe. I had the date written down somewhere and I imagine if I tear my room apart I could find it but it doesn’t seem that important candidly. I was making fun of Bob Dylan’s writing style all the way through this. That no good lousy son of a seacook Dave Dowker (/s) said BUT ALLEGRA YOUR SONGS NEVER HAVE BRIDGES and I thought I’ll fix you, you fucker, (Dave, man, you *know* I love ya past the edge of time and words) so note the bridge. IT’S A LITTLE ON THE NOSE but that my dears is a feature of the true Allegra style.

Please also note that the line about ‘gave me all her money’ IS TRUE. A friend was experiencing mental health problems and she gave every dime she had on her to a street musician. She had no way to know that he was about to be evicted; she prevented him, his then girlfriend and infant child from being thrown into the street. YEARS LATER all three of us met in the friend’s apartment – he was now an IT wrangler in Vancouver – and I GOT TO PLAY THIS SONG FOR HIM. That is one of the many extremely spooky song magic things that’s happened to me over the course of my life (you would NOT BELIEVE some of the strangest of it, but this example is nice and family friendly) but it’s amped up since I moved to MST country. My song magic is powerful enough to reach into the future and be there waiting for unforeseeable events.

He left me in a dimestore
with a book and half a shoe
I said I can’t believe this
it’s so very good of you
and we’ll have some words before we’re through
Oh I bless the man who wastes no time debating
the splendour of the true

The truth is broken furniture
you can leave it in the street
right next to the newspapers
the hoboes need the heat
I’ll lay my empty pack at your feet
Oh I bless the woman who gave me all her money
and made my set complete

I’ll be to hell and gone before I find another friend so good
she went to the dictionary and tore out the word should
Half a paycheque gone, just to be misunderstood
Oh I bless the woman who listened to me
Just because she could

A bridge, a bridge is what I see
no more analysis, one more river to cross
A bridge, a bridge is what I see
no more analysis, one last river to cross

Sometimes I’d rather sit in darkness
than see a single light
and see so much that needs healing
and being put to rights
better to be broken than never to have tried
and now the dawn has come
and the dark gets swept aside

An evening of serious drinking
that we have so long planned
an evening of serious drinking
at last at last is at hand
o fall on your knees to the porcelain god
as into the temple you crawl
and pray for the strength of your liver
as into a stupor you fall

An evening of serious drinking
that we have so long planned
an evening of serious drinking
at last at last is at hand
aaaaammmmeeennnnnnnn

Written for Jerome R (whom I brought to my mother in Victoria many moons ago to advise her that I stood in sibling relation to him) on the occasion of his 25th bday a solid 2 decades ago, and it was a fucking awesome party, thanks.

No mOm, you’re not expected to remember meeting every random stranger I’ve dragged in front of you.

Spare a thought for Jeff who occasionally gets this song as an earworm. Man, what a life.

I see you coming
there’s no place I can go
You’ll sit beside me
mouth moving to and fro
I’d like to go somewhere
maybe go for a walk
’cause I’m not really in the mood to listen to anybody talk

I’ve heard of places you’re not allowed to speak
Think I’ll check into one, I sure could use it for a week
I’ve been so busy, I’ve had no time to take stock
And I’m not really in the mood to listen to anybody talk

Cancelled the party, maybe you think it’s rude
there’s no excuse for it, I’m just not in the mood
Did it really come as that much of a shock
that I’m not really in the mood to listen to myself talk
Not really in the mood to listen to anybody
Not really in the mood to listen to anybody
Not really in the mood to listen to anybody
Not really in the mood to listen to anybody
Talk

I was childless and living in Amedeo Garden Court in the back building when I wrote this. It was for a woman I should not have attempted to befriend. More would be rude; I certainly wish her well, wherever she is.

To think that it all started with committee work
These decades past
Some now here assembled came and did not shirk
And they had a blast
We are trying to help the world
All the little boys and girls
And the ones who aren’t sure which they are
Growing their theology
Becoming all that they can be
Knowing in their lives they’ll wander far
And Beacon will be part of who they are

All the controversies now seem very small
When we look back
It’s a miracle that we are here at all
With all that flack
Boards and staff in panoply
Ministers and homilies
Days when the presenter failed to show
Visits to the partner church
Pledges paid or in the lurch
Always wondering if we would grow
As if our wishing somehow made it so.

But it is no joke
We fight oppression’s yoke
Whether in the soul or on the street
What you think is true
Is shown in what you do
And sharing truth is really why we meet

Here’s to Beacon’s 30th, now raise a glass
And toast us proudly
Maybe all our dreams have not yet come to pass
Still we sing loudly
We can set up anywhere
Little but somehow we share
Knowing that our giving shows our love
The future holds its mystery
As we toast our history
And the peace that we’re all dreaming of.

If someone wants the lyrics I’ll write them out. I’m way fonder of this song than I should be, and the lyrics are quite deliberately obtuse and goofy and bighearted. I have never sung it since I recorded it, except to sing along with the recording and invent new harmonies; isn’t that funny? it’s as if once it’s recorded it’s in an emotional mausoleum.

 
Well once he was her lover but now
he’s just a pile of rocks
and she has to move them one at a time
to get to whatever she wants
and the nights she’s cried and called him cruel
his answer is always the same
if your life is not all that you would have wished
you’ve none but yourself to blame

The time that she’s spent on what he wants to do
she finds she’s resenting it still
and he has no duty to repay the debt
she did it of her own free will
and she won’t think of leaving though sometimes it seems
like the only real option she has
so she’ll stay where she’s known some small comfort and calm
and not run away from her past

This one’s for Paul of course. You cannot imagine how nervelessly angry I was when I wrote this.

And it lands different, after #metoo, don’t it.

And of course Paul’s a different person now. The shit I’m twitting him about here maybe happened, but it isn’t who he is anymore, and hasn’t been for years and years.

Well my momma lived next door to Bela Lugosi
He kept trying to give her cigars
and I was too polite to say “I think you’re lyin'”
so I said, “Alan, I think you’ve been working too hard.”

NO she really did live next door to Bela!
Call her in Ft. Lauderdale and you will see
I thought, I gotta think of something to one-up this puppy
so I dug down deep in my memory
I said
I was seen
by our royal queen
In my crib when I was less than a year
And she leaned right in and she cooed so loud
my grandma and my auntie could hear
Then they misspelled my name
in a newspaper clipping
when I clap my hands, it appears!

and he said
that’s real nice
but it cuts no ice
cause BELA LUGOSI IS THE KING AROUND HERE

Bela Lugosi is the kind around here, Bela Lugosi
Bela Lugosi is the kind around here, Bela Lugosi

Well I split a cab with Sinead O’Connor
I could tell she’d kill for a smoke
I said, as soon as we get out and hit the sidewalk
we’ll go someplace quiet and crack some jokes
Wish ta hell I could remember what she said
it was a cutting remark and she cut me dead
I live in mortal fear that we’ll run out of beer
but BELA LUGOSI IS THE KING AROUND HERE

Bela Lugosi is the kind around here, Bela Lugosi
Bela Lugosi is the kind around here, Bela Lugosi

Well I want you all to know I had an alien’s baby
and everything came out fine, but the eyes
and when she smiles all her teeth are a little bit pointy
and she never seems to be the least bit surprised
I showed her Plan 9 From Outer Space
she said, that’s it, I give up on the whole human race
HAVE NO FEAR SOMEONE BROUGHT MORE BEER
and BELA LUGOSI IS THE KING AROUND HERE

Bela Lugosi is the kind around here, Bela Lugosi
Bela Lugosi is the kind around here, Bela Lugosi

Apparently this is Peter Alway’s favourite song of mine. Takes all kinds, my darlings.

Dance around a fire and the fire is you
I cast a shadow nine feet tall
I could fly up into the sky
Never feel the pull of gravity at all
Wish it was mine
I wish it was mine
O baby
Wish it was mine
I wish it was mine
O

Wish it was mine?
you crossed a line
You got some understandings that you’ll have to redefine
You cannot own me
you cannot buy me
do not go there
do not try me
I’ll defend every inch of skin I’ve got
Pack up your delusions and go

Such a violent answer
for such a peaceful man
but I was put upon this earth
to help you if I can
and only you may judge if the price is set too high
but I love a man who trusts himself and that is not a lie
Wish it was mine
I wish it was mine
O
Wish it was mine
I wish it was mine
O

Your call cannot be completed as dialled
please check the number and try again

Your call cannot be completed as dialled
please check the number and try again

You have reached a number to which long distance charges apply
You have reached a number to which long distance charges apply

What will it take before I can get through to you
what will it take for you to see
what will it take before I can get through to you
and what will it take from me
what will it take from me
Words fail
you walked away
you walked away from me

This is the sin that goes before all others
this is the sin I see in me
this is the pride that says that you will turn around
and look at me…. Turn around and look at me
Words fail
you walked away
you walked away from me

Your call cannot be completed as dialled
please check the number and try again

Your call cannot be completed as dialled
please check the number and try again

You have reached a number to which long distance charges apply
You have reached a number to which long distance charges apply

This is a unitarian hymn. If you want the lyrics email a hundred dollars to allegra sloman at the house of gmail. This is not a sign I believe in god…. it’s just a hymn.

If you are wondering what’s happening, I think a lot of unitarian musicians are sockholes about copyright, so I’m asserting my right to be pissy about that by demanding money the way they do.

This song was part of a three song day I had in Toronto long about 1983. The splendour of the true was another one and I can’t remember the third although it might have been the con committee waltz which I don’t remember anything about now.

Think I’ll rub some catnip on my shoes and go strolling through my neighbourhood
my neighbourhood
it does me good to see those furry felines fling their faces at my feet
I’m a potentate and it feels so sweet
SPCA’s suspicious
it looks like cru -el -ty
but the cats aren’t yowling for my blood or for a government inquiry
whenever I rub catnip on my shoes and go strolling through my neighbourhood