Michaelean Lyrics

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Michaelean

Index

I Don't Sing

Michaelean

Fireflies And Windows

Jourdan

She Moved Through The Fair

I Don't Sing

I don't sing, I only move my
Lips in sync with the music
I don't think it's any big deal
If I sing or not
I don't dream, I only worry
Bills unpaid, they get me worried
Close my eyes, in comes a jury
Faces looking down

I do not sing this song
I do not right this wrong
I do not sing this song
I do not sing

Who's the singer, who's the dreamer,
What's her name?
Who's the jury, who's the judge,
Who's to blame?
These are places that
We all were born to name
Turning outside in and inside out
We feel ourselves again
Crazy feet, they're walking under

Bones and meat, I often wonder
Where's the seat of all this thunder
Raging deep inside
May it rip and crack me open
Maybe then I'll feel some hope, then
I will know that it's a big deal
If I sing or not

I do not sing this song
I do not write this wrong
I do not sing this song
I do not sing

House of anger, house of doubt,
House of shame
I have been there,
I have seen the lives they've claimed
Still I know that we were
Born to name these names
Turning outside in and inside out
We heal ourselves again

Vocal, Piano, Keyboard - Margo
Violin - Carol Sharar
Acoustic / Electric guitars - Mark Saunders
Bass - Michael Visceglia
Drum Programming - Mark Dann
Cymbals, Bongos, Triangle - Marshal Rosenberg

Michaelean

A young girl is held close for the first time
A boy who doesn't know that it's her first time
He wants in; she wants him
One month later, she's told she's a woman
Doctor says you're gonna have a
Healthy one; could be a son
But it's a girl, it's Michaelean
'Cause things are rarely as they seem
You are my dream of what a sister should be
You are everything to me, Michaelean

The young girl holds her baby for the first time
But deep inside she knows it's for the last time
Baby cries; she says good bye
With breasts still full
And a heart that's nearly broken
She goes home with still so much unspoken
Missing her, her baby girl
She named her baby Michaelean
'Cause things are rarely as they seem
You are my dream of what a sister should be
You are everything to me, Michaelean

A couple in Jersey
They think they are unworthy
Because they can't bear children on their own
They take on children three
A boy, a girl, and me
And suddenly their house becomes a home
They name my sister Anne Louise
'Cause things are rarely as they seem
You are my dream of what a sister should be
You are everything to me, Michaelean

My sister talks for what seems like the first time
She tells me stories new about the old times
Growing up; we both messed up
But something's changed
'Cause now she knows her worth
She's finally learned her circumstance of birth
Before Anne Louise, she was Michaelean
Though you're a woman, Anne Louise
And things are rarely as they seem
You are my dream of what a sister should be
You are everything to me
Michaelean, Anne Louise
You are more than names to me, Michaelean

Vocal, Piano - Margo
Viola - Carol Sharar
Cello - Stephanie Winters
Cymbals - Marshal Rosenberg

Fireflies and Windows

Look out the window
There are fireflies from my childhood
Castoffs from the sun
Fireflies don't bite
They don't even sting
They don't even fight
They just light the way back home

And as I watch them navigate the night
I ponder all those years
Still, it's hard, so very hard to see
Well, it seems even more impossible
To show myself to you
But I know that love will be the key

Here in my room
There's a shadow playing hooky
A remnant from my past
He was a fool
Wouldn't you know
He sang a tune
But it was one that couldn't last

And as I sing it softly to myself
The shadow disappears
And forgiveness, forgiveness rushes in
'Cause I remember being happy
And I remember being glad
And I know that love is where I've been

Look out the window
There are windows upon windows
Pieces of the sky
Put them together
They do remember the whole
Of why we live and die

So don't you lock the door that separates
You from your broken heart
Even though you want to be alone
For there are fireflies and windows
And there are songs that must be sung
And through it all, the love will bring you home
Yes, there are fireflies and windows
And there are songs that must be sung
And the love, the love will bring you home

Vocals, Acoustic guitar - Margo
Harmonica, Background vocals - Mindy Jostyn
Electric guitar - Gregg Marks
Bass - Dan Krimm
Drums - Denny McDermott
Percussion - Marshal Rosenberg

The Fisherman's Wife

Intro and outro and arrangement © Margo Hennebach

Here's the story of a fisherman's wife
How the man she wed lived a fisherman's life
When he set sail, she set a table for one
Will the work of a fisherman ever be done?

A' the week your man's awa' ¹
And a' the week you bide your lane ²
A' the time you're waiting for
The minute that he's comin' hame ³
Ye ken whit wey he has tae work ⁴
Ye ken the hours he has tae keep
And yet it mak's ye angry when
Ye see him just come hame tae sleep

Through the months and through the years
While you're bringing up the bairns ⁵
Your man's awa' tae here and there
Following the shoals of herrin'
And when he's back there's nets tae mend
You've maybe got a score or twa
And when they're done he'll rise and say
"Wife, it's time I was awa'"

Work and wait and dree your weird ⁶
Pin your faith in herrin' sails
And oftimes lie awake at nicht ⁷
In fear and dread o' winter gales
For men maun wark tae earn their breid ⁸
And men maun sweat tae gain their fee
And fishermen will aye gang oot ⁹
As lang as fish swim in the sea

This was the story of a fisherman's wife
How the man she wed lived a fisherman's life
When he set sail she set a table for one
Will the love of a fisherman ever be won?

¹ - All the week your man's away
² - stay at home
³ - home
⁴ - You know the hours he has to work
⁵ - children
⁶ - endure your fate
⁷ - night
⁸ - For men must work to earn their bread
⁹ - always go out

Vocals, Piano - Margo
Harmony vocals - Madwoman in the Attic (Margo,
Adrienne Jones, and Diane Chodkowski)
Electric violin - Tim Carbone
Fretless bass - Dan Krimm
Bass - Michael Visceglia
Drums, Percussion - Barb Merjan

Remembering

I don't remember being born
My recollection's dim
Although I often wonder
How it must have been
To finally feel the arms
Of a woman scared and brave
She handed me to others
So we each could make our way
--Have we each made our own way?
Tears fell from her face to mine
I feel them still sometimes

I don't remember growing breasts
One day they just appeared
The ripening of cherries
Caused amazement more than fear
Except for when the stranger came
While holding them too tight
He said he knew I'd like it
I was too afraid to fight
--But it never was all right
Sweat fell from his face to mine
I feel it still sometimes

And I'm glad I don't remember
All the things that came before
I prefer to listen
To the sound of one closed door

I don't remember loving you
I couldn't if I tried
A kiss that lasted here to Florida
Your burning, blue grey eyes
I left a trail behind me
Of the ones I left before
Who knew that you would be the one
To haunt me evermore
--You haunt me evermore
Tears fall as I think of you
Do you feel them too?

And I'm glad I don't remember
And that you've forgotten too
It's just another door I've shut
I don't remember
Ever loving
You

Vocal, Piano - Margo
Cello - Stephanie Winters

Mercy

Up eleven floors
From a crowded street
Friends who once were strangers
Meet every other week
This is where we stumble
In the quiet of our talk
Love forever reaching
Four hearts in a knot, and I'm thinking

Mercy me, oh mercy me,
If this is what I've got
Make me more of who I am
And less of what I'm not
Deliver me from evil and out of danger's lair
Mercy you have found me
I'd know you anywhere

Stephen signs his name
To paintings on a wall
He leaves them all untitled
The big ones and the small
'Cause words cannot do justice
To what he feels inside
A caldron of emotions
Is so hard to describe, and I'm thinking

Chorus

Julie goes to school
After working nine to five
I wonder how she does it
How she sets aside the time
To share these awkward moments
As the light begins to dim
To speak what was unspoken
To climb a new-found limb, and I'm thinking

Chorus

Anywhere there's a fault in the fault line
Anywhere there's a raging sea
This is where I begin to know you

One of us is leaving
I cannot say her name
I think she knows we'll miss her
And things just won't be the same
But somewhere in this tiny room
She has left her mark
A Cuban benediction
A fierce and joyous heart, and I'm singing

Mercy me, oh mercy me,
Oh look at what I've got
Make me more of who I am
And less of what I'm not
Deliver me from evil and out of danger's lair
Mercy you have found me
I'd know you anywhere
Mercy you have found me
I'd know you anywhere

Vocals, Guitar, Piano - Margo
Violin - Tim Carbone
Acoustic guitar - Mark Saunders
Bass - Michael Visceglia
Drums - Denny McDermott
Congas, Cymbals - Marshal Rosenberg

Paper Cuts

Who would have thought that paper could cut so deep
And that words could fall so hard?
That's what your letter did to me that day
Though I remember, it was such a pretty card
But that was then and I know now
That you chose those words so you could hide
And I tell you now with confidence
All you showed was your false pride
You know, you never even said goodbye

Who would thought that flowers cut from stems
Would still smell so fine?
You wore the colors of a garden when
I saw you, though perhaps this was a sign
Because that was then and I know now
That the colors and the smells were just for show
And that flowers, once they've been cut
Never get a chance to grow
You know, they'll never even get to grow

Flowers, paper, scissors, rock
Each in its own way
Captures love in a love-filled jar
Till love has had its day

Vocals, Guitar - Margo
Cello - Stephanie Winters
Upright bass - Mark Dann
Cymbals, Congas, Toys - Marshal Rosenberg

Sandgate Dandling

Aay oh aay my bonny bairn ¹
Aay oh aay upon my airm ²
Aay oh aay ye soon may lairn ³
To say Dada sae canny
Thou wish tha daddy may be well
He's lang a comin' from the keel
Though his black face is like the devil
I like a kiss from Johnny

Thou canny dop is fat and round
And like tha dad thou's plump and sound
Thou's worth to me ten thousand pound
Thou's altogether bonny
When Johnny's drunk he'll take a knife
And threaten sore to take my life
Who wouldn't be a keelman's wife
To have a man like Johnny

Yonder Johnny's comin' now
He looks the best among the crew
They're all going to the barley mow
Thou canny godlike Johnny
Come let's get the bacon fried
And let us make a clean fireside
Then on his knee he will thee ride
When he comes home to mommy

¹ - beautiful child
² - arm
³ - learn
⁴ - precious face

Vocals, Synth - Margo Hennebach
Mandolin - Paul Kovit
Violin - Mindy Jostyn
Flute - Greg Gerson
Bass - Michael Visceglia
Drums - Denny McDermott
Military snare - David Liebowitz

Dotted Line

I'm driving the dotted line
Searching horizons for some kind of sign
Maybe it's up in the sky
Or here in the pulse of these lines that go by
Keeping my hands on the wheel
Trying to track all the feelings I feel
Instead I just pass them by
Like hitchhikers stranded,
Their thumbs stretched up high

I'm signing the dotted line
Watching you keep what is yours from what's mine
A line that will never be crossed
A line that reminds me of what we have lost
Keeping my hand on the pen
Vowing I'll never go through this again
While you silently pack all your things
My heart breaks apart into pieces and sings:

Chorus:
"I've got a courage with wings
I know a faith that's the envy of kings
Tell me you're willing to try
I'll show you that you were born to fly"

I'm living the dotted line
Lines in my face that grow deeper in time
I thought I would always be young
I thought I would always find
Words on my tongue

But sometimes there's nothing to say
Sometimes there is but I push it away
Better to stay in the lines
Better this way, though my heart declines:

Chorus

I'm singing these written lines
I tie them together like pieces of twine
Sometimes they make a nice bow
Sometimes they break so I have to let go
That's when I know I have wings
I feel them growing the more that I sing
'Cause I'm putting myself on the line
I'm driving the dotted, impossible line
I'm living within and without these lines

Vocals, Keyboard - Margo
Electric guitar - Mark Saunders
Bass - Michael Visceglia
Drums - Denny McDermott
Percussion - Marshal Rosenberg

All That You Are

Well, you're all by yourself
And you watch some more TV
And you feel so alone you could spit
But there's no one to watch you
And you're too tired anyhow
So you turn off the TV before you call it quits
"Ohhh..."

What was that singing
And where did it come from?
You ask all these questions
But still don't know why
The bookcase was swaying
You're sure that it was
And the room's keeping three quarter time
"Ohhh..."

Things like this don't ever
Happen to you
It couldn't be more absurd
Still there's dew in the doorway
To a room filled with birds
You understand nothing and finally hear words:
"Ohh, You aren't alone
And I love you for all that you are"

This makes you mad
These words said out loud
For you've been on your own for so long
So you switch on the TV
But instead of the Cosbys
You hear one more refrain of that song:
"Ohh, You aren't alone
And I love you for all the you are"

Now you've decided you've
Got it worked out
You're sure that you just made it up
Still it's driving you crazy
And it feels way too real
And you think that you're falling in love
"Ohh, You aren't alone
And I love you for all the you are"

In love with a voice
That resounds in a room
But echoes another inside
You know it seems strange
But it sounds like your own
The voice you've been trying to hide:
"Ohh, You aren't alone
And I love you for all the you are"

Vocal, Piano, Keyboards - Margo
Vocals - Madwoman in the Attic and Janice Kollar
Electric guitar - Mark Saunders
Bass - Dan Krimm

She Moved Through The Fair

My own love said to me,
"My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you
For your lack of kine"
Then she lay her hand on me
And to me did say:
"It will not be long, love, till our wedding day"

She went away from me
And she moved through the fair
And so fondly I watched her,
Move here and move there
Then she made her way homeward
With one star awake
Like the swan in the evening moves over the lake

Last night she came to me, my dead love came in
And so softly she came, her feet made no din
Then she lay her hand on me and to me did say:
"It will not be long, love, till our wedding day."

Vocals, Piano - Margo
Guitar, Mandolin - Paul Kovit
Viola - Carol Sharar
Flute - Greg Gerson
Bass - Dan Krimm
Cymbals, Film can - Marshal Rosenberg

Bonus track: Fly Silly Seabird

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