Our Hurricane
written by Rusty Spell
Well, the beach it is lonely post-hurricane time. It's waiting for people in cars in a line on the highway, driving, waiting, wishing it wouldn't take so long.
And the houses are shambles, look well past their prime, though some are brand new and were left there just fine while the people are driving and hoping belongings inside aren't gone.
And we left the town with our lives intertwined with problems you had and pretended were mine while I did the same to you, insisting it was never me.
And the palm trees are swaying, the ones that are standing. And I'm simply obeying the morals my grandfather had. 'Cause I'd leave tomorrow if I had my own way. And I'd never come back here, and I'd never have to see you again.
Our toothbrushes are packed while our bathroom decays, and our room's been crashed in on the bed where we lay: A brilliant metaphor for you and me, baby.
And your guitar is broken, my Chia Pet shaved and I can't help but picture the large tidal wave that I'd have let wash me away if I would have stayed behind.
All Alone
written by Rusty Spell
I had to pull out my thesaurus the first time I met you; your words were so small that their simplicity hurt my ears. And when love came and saw us trying desperately to stay away, practicality fought it and held out for all those years.
Now I'm just standing all alone... And you're just waiting for me... And I'm just waiting for you... And you're just standing all alone...
I needed something else to say; my humor had gone to sleep, and our solemn conversation had vanished to another land. Affection molded us like clay on a pottery wheel that day, but we laughed it off in tears cause we never did understand.
Now you're just standing all alone... And I'm just waiting for you... And you're just waiting for me... And I'm just standing all alone...
Now we are standing all alone... And I'm here waiting with you... And you're here waiting with me... And we are standing all alone...
Looks like we're standing all alone. Why don't you call me on the phone? I didn't mean to use that tone. Looks like we're standing all alone.
He'll Never Say
Goodbye
written by Rusty Spell
In the summer of all my beauty, I was untouchable, cold in the sun. But when his rain-drenched dog sat upon me, I could see then that my time was run up.
When he made me sit in the basement, locking the light bulbs in the fireproof vault, my mind fell on the pain and wonder of children making mudpies, growing up to love and die.
Rain and summer, dog and beauty. Mud and vaults and minds. And he really loved me in the morning, and he really loved me at night.
I threw away the Giga pet my sister gave me, and put on another 45. Thinking that the world was spinning just like this plastic record made it feel real to be alive.
And then he twisted my nightgown at the sleeve as I made another sigh. The perfect smell of his terrible coffee let me know he would never say goodbye.
He would never say goodbye. He would never say goodbye, not in a million. I love the sound as he turns out the light, knowing that he'll never say goodbye.
I Like You
written by Rusty Spell
Turn away. I don't want you to see me, 'cause it's hard to be so honest. Day by day, I'm thinking lots about you, and I've tried to make it stop. But I must say there's no other way: I know I've got to give in if I want to keep on livin'.
(So) (Yeah) (And) I like you. Junior-highish as it sounds, I just have to get it out: I like you. And that's all that I can say; you can answer any way: I like you.
So you say? I've been holding something in, banging my head on wooden bedknobs. No more play. I'm sick of all these riddles, all this garbage, all this nonsense. And by the way, the news today is there is no mistaken all these feelings that are shakin'.
Clear away the path of all that's not worthy... Destroy those bad euphemisms: they're like scurvy... We're gonna make this fake world much more real, more topsy-turvy... And I like you.
The Emperor's New
Song
written by Rusty Spell
It's all right to write the first thing that comes in your head, as long as it doesn't sound like the first thing in your head.
And it's all right that Lawrence's bird didn't rise out of the dust. And it's all right we didn't connect like Forster thought. And it's all right that Jesus Jones was totally wrong. 'Cause we're here right now. Yeah, we're here right now. Sure, we're here right now. We're really here right now.
And I love her... She's more beautifuller than grammar. She bought me a new hammer for Father's Day last year. And I love her... though her mother makes me angry and her father wants to hang me on the tree in his yard for Halloween. He'll say I'm decoration so they won't call the police. And I also love his niece. Her name's Anna Dell Louise. I'm not being very sweet, being in love with sets of girls.
Girls. Why songs about girls? About girls and their boys? Do we care about these boys? I guess I do, 'cause it's all that I write in the middle of the night. I think they rule: Too cool for school, where I look like a fool sitting on a stool wearing a dunce hat.
And I want to say the emperor isn't ready quite yet. He's made another bet with his counsellor that all the kingdom's people will get caught in his net and they won't regret that they're in there.
Shaka-Bra...
I Love My Feet
written by Rusty Spell
When I see the bad in the universe, I realize it ain't too funky. I feel I must just save it all. I'll catch a plane to a third world country.
Well, my husband's neat, but I hate his feet. If he'd cut them off, it would be real boss.
When I drink coffee wearing peasant skirts, I feel like I'm a writer. I'll buy myself some groovy pens to go along with my cigarette lighter.
Christmas Afternoon
written by Rusty Spell
Time got lost in my mind, began to rewind to when calls were a dime. And you looked fine in the warm sunshine, lying on your spine, drinking lemon-lime. You would smile and reconcile the minor things which never piled, and all the while I'd never think that it is happening. And now the warmest memory has come and gone. Like Christmas afternoon: It takes too long and leaves too soon. The best time of my life has come and gone.
Why'd you make me cry when you would sigh and tell a lie, which made me die, float in the sky, up much too high for a living guy? I was tired 'cause all the happiness you brought left me inspired, but all the projects that we planned on never happened. And now the things we used to do have come and gone. Like Christmas afternoon: It takes too long and leaves too soon. The best time of my life has come and gone.
I hate this tree. The season doesn't last forever, betraying me. I'll leave the decorations to remind me of this day while all the other people go about their merry way, 'cause it has happened. The best time of my life has come and gone. Like Christmas afternoon: It takes too long and leaves too soon. The best time of my life has come and gone.
Little Love Song
written by Rusty Spell
Twinkle, little baby, right before me. Let the magic of your eyes shine away. Flicker with the fire of the sun you stole one day. You brought it to me many years ago when I was in a desperate way. All love was gone and I had gone astray. Would you play with me, darling, in my clubhouse tonight? I’ll be man, you’ll be the woman. Behold the purest delight. If I take me far away, dear, to the woods under the trees, would you lie with me underneath the leaves? And if you take me to the ocean where the waves rush loud and cold, would you let the water whisk away our souls? Put your fingers around mine, love. We’ll hold hands a long time. It will make me realize that I’m so happy that you’re mine. But if you ever try to hurt me, it would kill my little life...
Cacophony
written by Rusty Spell
Tra la la... Do do do... Yeah yeah yeah... This is very pleasing to me, but stand up and take your cacophony like a man. I know you can. You can...
Please
written by Rusty Spell
I sometimes think our lovelife is insane, not hard to plot on the Cartesian plane. Were spontaneity there, we'd probably get more done, not needing clocks to time the setting sun.
I sometimes wish that you would marry me, so simple to get down upon one knee. You should throw away ideas of your discarded world. It was you who said I was your favorite girl.
I sometimes think I should listen to my friends, though their boring conversation never ends. You were the very one who first took me away, but you brought me back, and now you want to stay.
Please... Let's go... I'm tired... Please... Let's stop... I'm wired... Please... My mind... Is gone... Please... Sing me... new songs...
I sometimes think that I have tried too hard, like hurling all your notebooks in the yard. I could try to settle myself into this disenchanted land. My senses would dull, but at least I wouldn't understand.
I sometimes wish that joy did not use change. My living without both is no longer strange. You'd flicker and you'd shine whenever I would dance. But your light is off, and you won't give it a chance.
Please... Don't say... It's done... Please... Need me... I'm young... Please... Though I... Know why... Please... Before... I die...
There Is You
written by Rusty Spell
I know that there is suffering, and I know that there is dying, and I know bad things are meant to be, and I know that it's the end of eternity.
But then I know that there is you, and that's all I need to know, that there is you. Please don't ever let me go. And I love you, and I need you, and all that I care about is you.
Lately, the earth's been like a drunken man reeling from all the booze we gave to him. And we know the crazy weather is a sign that soon we will have to see the end of time.
You and only you. Oh, you. You and only you. We're almost dead, our lives been bled, but one more time just let me look at you.
Is That The Same
Moon?
written by Rusty Spell
I saw Neil... in 1969. Walked outside... I saw no different shine. I met you... in summer-summertime. In the sky... I see a different shine.
Is that the same moon? Is that the same tune? Since I have met you, my February is June. Is that the same moon? Is that the same tune? Since I have met you, I have to wonder... Is that the same moon?
In my world... the sand is full of flowers. My dry land... is full of April showers. And your song... it seems to last for hours. And your kiss... hangs over me like towers.
I admit the world's no different. It's spun the same all along. And I know the little birdies have always sung the same song. I remember all the daydreams, the image I had of you. I'm so lost and I can't handle that all this fantasy's true.
Is that the same moon? Is that the same tune? Since I have met you, my February is June. Are these my same eyes? Are those the same skies? Since I have met you, everything's a surprise. Is that the same moon? Is that the same tune? Since I have met you, my February is June. Is that the same moon? Is that the same tune? Since I have met you, I have to wonder... Is that the same moon?
Beautiful
written by Rusty Spell
I met a girl with a slit up her blue jeans. She said it was the new feminist mode of dress. She said, "We wear the pants; take it literal take it figurative, but we show the leg cause it's one of the things that we got."
I said, "That's not really fair to be beautiful and masculine. Men can't be both if we cross-dress we're just gay." She knocked me down with a hard punch in my stomach. As she walked away I smelled her perfume in the air.
Ain't it beautiful to be loveable, to be admired no matter what you do? Ain't it beautiful to be adorable, to be right up the alley of the world?
I met a guy who was cheating on his girlfriend. He kept her around when he needed a date for his job. He had a list of the women that he wanted. His girl found it once and then told me that she did.
I said "Well, that's that you can leave him. Glad you found that." She said, "No, I'll stick around. I can't help it that I love him so." I said, "Don't be a dork. He's a loser: you should leave him." She said, "You'd do the same if you found someone as wonderful as him."
Dreams In a Jar
written by Debi Spell and Rusty Spell
We walk in the park, holding hands in the dark: I'm dreaming these things in the night. I'm whispering out loud, my heart in a shroud. I'm hoping that I'll get it right.
You haunt me. You taunt me with dreams of passion just out of my reach. You leave me. You tease me. When will I know what's inside? I wish I knew you.
You tremble and shake when I go away: I'm keeping these dreams in a jar. Are you a rock from a piece of my wall, or are you a cold, fallen star?
I Used Up All Your
Icons
written by Rusty Spell
We used to dance and sing in the rain, like two English majors in love. We held hands in the summer and drank wine cruising down the highway. We smoked cigarettes on wilderness roads, and kissed 100,000 times. Our smoky breath choked us both, but that is not the reason we cried.
There was a time when our eyes were young, when we thought we would never die. We counted stars in the sky that were scattered like grains of sand. The moon never looked away, 'cause it would follow us to London on a train. But, baby, in the mirror, see the winter in the sky and say goodbye.
(And) (But) I used up all your icons, then threw them all away. Familiar like a lover's embrace, it seemed to me cliche. I used up all your icons then plugged them in a hole. Now at least that knot's not empty, but who will fill my soul?
We sung songs on the sugar beach, said "ciao" to the New York city life, chased fireflies, drank cocktails in our 20th century world. But now it is June and I pine for the cold of the candy snow. I would chase you if I knew that you were somewhere but Tokyo.
You took pictures with my Nikon, then threw them all away. But their image is still burned in your mind, so, darling, won't you stay? You need a shoulder to cry on. You need the country songs I could write. I could give you everything if you would only come back tonight.
I've Got To Go
written by Rusty Spell
When the train blows a whistle, I'll remain as the whisper in your yard when you said you loved me, when I turned, and gave you a big hug and touched you on your pug nose, ignoring what you said.
I told you that I'd stay until I knew hat you'd be all right alone, and now I know that you won't, but I can't help that now. It's been too long. Somehow you'll make it on your own.
Cigarettes will lead me to my death. It's the only truth I know. The rest I'll search for. In a way, I really want to stay, but that way is very small. I've got to go.
In a year you'll think of me and fear you've lost your only love, and he was the worst man of all. How sad, how pathetic and how bad. It really sucks out loud. I've got to go.
I Cry I Cry I
Cry I Cry I Cry
written by Rusty Spell
On the last day of the world, in a dusty antique bar, where once I was your girl, and you loved me like a star, I see those days are gone, like the world where we belong. And there's nothing left to do but cry.
And I cry and I cry and I cry and I cry and I cry, while we die and we die and we die and we die and we die. But no one seems to care. No one even cares to say goodbye.
I can feel it coming now, like a slow and smoky train. I recall the perfect smell when we kissed out in the rain. So now the warning's come, and my head's between my knees. And there's nothing I can do but cry.
Rock-a-Bye Moon
written by Rusty Spell
The earth is all alone and hanging by a chain, a pendant to be stolen, a locket filled with pain. We weigh so much down here, we'll never float away, the only one that's blue among the Milky Way.
But, oh, for me and you to leave here very soon. We'll fall asleep so quickly in the crescent of the rock-a-bye moon. We'll eat cheese every night while going through a phase. We'll see by the sunlight, but never see the days.
We are so close to love. We are so close to war. We're stuck right in the middle and don't know what they're for. We go around in circles. We do it every year. We think we're getting somewhere, but end up right back here.
But, oh, for me and you to leave here very soon. We'll fall asleep so quickly in the crescent of the rock-a-bye moon. We'll summon up Apollo, his oracle, and then we'll slowly count our numbers, we'll end at one from ten.
But, oh, for me and you to leave here very soon. We'll fall asleep so quickly in the crescent of the rock-a-bye moon. The sea there is so tranquil, the perfect place to hide. No one will see our footprints if we live on the dark side.
Copyright (c) Jan 2001 by Rusty Spell and Love and Letters Music