vanessa lowe
57 suspect words - 2004
the mighty prawn 00CM-759
words and music by vanessa lowe
produced by kent sparling
engineered by myles boisen
at guerrilla recording
and kent sparling in his cave
mixed by kent sparling
at skywalker sound
with myles boisen on “your worried mind’,
“darwinian darts”, “thin window” and “ashes of...”
mastered by myles boisen
at the headless buddha
executive producer: austin willacy
design: lisa ekstrom
cover art: kathy greenstein
photography: hannah henry, tim kerns and vanessa lowe
1: sounds like - 2:28
sounds like sounds like
sounds like go go go go
but I’ve no breath
to breathe in out in out in out
it’s always
not always
but often
i wanna i wanna i want
could a thin man
find a place to be right to be
if he could he might not
be so so so tired
down around the ankles of the trees
i’m holding on like a child
don’t want to drop down for fear of…
at the bottom of the down
down down down
i was listening so hard for
good good good
i can’t help it
you know what i mean, man
it’s a thin sound
i close in on
V Lowe: Resonator Guitars, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Drum Kit
K Sparling: Melodica, Handclaps, Percussion
M Boisen: Electric Guitars
2: bubble - 3:28
like a rocket pushing through the layers, the land the air the sky the trust
i look out through plastic windows at lemonade and cake and cotton balls
i can see the earth is turning like a bubble on its side
up and over thorny roses floating high
my perspective, thread into a cloud, allows the air to be the ocean
happy to be underwater when visiting the sun the sun the sun
i can see…
it’s close enough to be my hand and far enough to show my weakness
i can see the pores in the skin of the tired land on the mountain ranges
raining down like rocks against the road, pushing out the end of the microscope
i’ve forgotten everything i saw, all the jagged cuts in the jigsaw
i can see…
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Drum Kit
K Sparling: Keyboards, Percussion, Backing Vocals
M Boisen: Electric Guitars
G Madsen: Backing Vocals
3: bug - 3:45
so outdated this method of transportation
endless legwork moving one moving one moving one limb at a time
when with a wave of one hand i could cruise across the ocean
to the world to the world to the world i’m just a freeloading bug
when i creep out i’m not trying to creep you out
i’m traversing a distance as vast as time
so i climb up anything, anyone, any way i find
like a frozen lake or the skin of an orange
dimple like double your pleasure bursting with fragrant as hell
i can hold out for about a minute
‘til the dive ‘til the dive ‘til the dive ‘til the dive of my life
when i creep out…
oh sweet pungence scent of my rapunzel’s hair
i stow away like a tiny prince on the back of an elephant
cross the river, cross the bog down underneath the tree trunks
are my palaces no lath and plaster it’s just a vast earthly joy
when i creep out…
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Altered Drum Kit
K Sparling: Dr.Cricket, Rhodes Piano, Keyboards, Beatbox, Serge Modules
4: vertigo - 4:23
one precious moment is all i can handle
i have my hands full with the joy i’ve got
and i lose my perspective in the midst of too much happiness
like a tightrope walker with vertigo, the ground below has got a hold on me
while fate’s last temptation is unlikely to be the end of me
i’m sometimes tempted to see the underside of the things that please
but if it’s all the same to you and godliness
i’ll take my chances on the happiness of this
i want to go outside where the cold wind howls and howl right along with it
i want to feel the ground how it used to hold me in my little red outfit
me and the other snow angels
one precious moment is more than i’d hoped for
the only surety is everything will pass
though i was taught to covet only what i don’t need
if i succeed i’ll want everything i have
i want to go outside…
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Drum Kit
K Sparling: Rhodes Piano, Melodica, Harmonium, Percussion, Backing Vocals
M Boisen: Electric Guitar
5: happy for you - 3:55
you said i don’t want to be here
i asked why did you come then
you said i went for a walk and this is where i arrived
i wondered where you intended to be once you got there
you looked so sad when you answered anywhere but where i go
i tell you hush i know, i know
you ask can i stay a while
it looks so sweet when you step your feet in your shoes
you gotta know what’s the secret to all this sparkle glow
but i never really have seen it this thing that’s making you blind
i tell you hush…
and i’m so happy happy for you
just so happy happy for you
you wish for everything you love and make it come true
you said it’s time to be going i’m late for something big
i’ve got a lot to accomplish, i’ve got a lot to lose
‘cause there’s gold dust right up ahead there and i’m gonna make it mine
if you don’t rocket to it first and blow it all away
i tell you hush…
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Drum Kit, Hand Drums
K Sparling: Serge Modules, Melodica, Rhodes Piano, Recorder, Song Flute, Percussion
M Boisen: Electric Guitar Objects
6: goodbye – 2:21
V Lowe: Spanish and Acoustic Guitars
B Freelove: Acoustic Bass
T Hawkins: Drum Kit
K Sparling: Rhodes Piano, Percussion, Atmospherics
M Boisen: Electric Guitar
7: dark room - 4:30
i’ve been sitting in a dark room listening to water dripping this tune
if you could take a taste anywhere anytime
would it be as good as craving it for days
i see the sunday light moving across your face
and i want to touch your skin and give you love my love
oh, to give or not to give of yourself
dancing alone can be quite a thrilling thing indeed
i say to each his own now say it back to me
it’s not that i recoil from the warmth of a lover’s arms
it’s just i’m loathe to soil the love you give my darling
oh, to give or not to give of yourself
thought you were awake or i’d have left a note
thought you were asleep or i’d have said i’m going out
to the store for awhile i’ll be back
now that i’m hungry for something i can finally have
you tempt me with its lack, feels kind of good to feel so bad
i’ll take what you can give or hold what you will lend
and then begin to see the light before the end
oh, to give or not to give of yourself
i’ve been sitting in a dark room listening to water dripping this tune
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Drum Kit
K Sparling: Electric Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Backing Vocals
8: listen closely - 2:45
write me down on a piece of cloth, hold me up and let me slip away
the wind will take me home
push me up on a red see saw, raise me high
so high that i can see the tops of my fears
oh how i miss it, the place where i could see you all
and if i listen closely i never hear you call
set me down on a level plane pull the cord and watch me spin away
out of control
hold me closed with a piece of string make a knot and tie it with a bow
i’ll never come undone
oh how i miss it…
write me down on a piece of cloth, hold me up and let me slip away
the wind will take me home
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Hand Drums
K Sparling: Atmospherics, Keyboard, Electric Guitar, Shakers
9: out in the longing - 3:29
out in the longing is a place that you know
out in the longing is a place you should go
deep in the fog is a thing that is hidden
don’t trust your eyes you’ll pass by and you’ll miss it
don’t you believe what you see, i said don’t you believe what you see
over the hill is a scent warm and sweet
makes you feel certain, so sure you could cry
the light holds a promise you feel you can keep
then the moment has passed it goes fast and you see
don’t you believe what you see, i said don’t you believe what you see
out in the longing is a place that you know
out in the longing is a place you must go
deep in the fog is a thing that is hidden
don’t trust your eyes go inside and you’ll find it
don’t you believe what you see, i said don’t you believe what you see
no no don’t you believe what you see, never just believe what you see
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitar, Vocal
10: drift - 4:06
you’re weaving like a wheel, you don’t roll real straight
but you don’t feel bent ‘cause you do roll
you’re happy then you’re sad, you twist like a sigh of relief gone bad
it could be the more you sleep the less you dream
you’re bobbing along on a blue green sea
you drift out so slowly
i called you i called you
you’re broken like a watch, you’ve run down real slow
but you don’t stop, and you confuse me
you’re coasting like a kite with no string attached
but you can’t find your way back to ground
down below the grey clouds
you’re bobbing along…
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Drum Kit
K Sparling: Melodica, Keyboards, Percussion, Serge Modules, Atmospherics
M Boisen: Slide Guitar
11: black back - 4:19
i saw a black back under the flat matte grey under the richmond bridge
i felt the wind sprint over the steel glint, i saw it twist and bend
i could not hear it speak there was no sound to leak
like water burning into mist
they shot a story right to the core of me, it crawled in dark and deep
they have a life iced under the cruel dice of a war they keep
i could not hear it speak…
and though i sense it there, why would it ever dare to show itself to me
and i go diving very low for damaged tongues and withered hands
and they’ll never find the pearls they seek
they crush them all beneath their feet
i saw a black back under the flat matte grey under the richmond bridge
i think it heard me warning to hurry, before it was too late
i could not hear it speak…
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitar, Vocal
B Freelove: Bass
K Sparling: Brushes, Backing Vocals, Field Recordings
12: aven - 4:21
when your hands shook, the world burst open
in a treasure chest of fear and hope
but you’ve got it covered, you’ve got it covered
you do you do now
i heard you then in your tender pity
to be fully formed was your wish for winning
like a baby bird with wings of wood
you could burn with pain
but aven
but aven you know
you’ve got it covered
if you’re lowered down in solid form
and the puzzle pieces are set
where’s the game, the fun, the challenge
to never wonder wait or worry
what you wanted then was a fire dangling
but i tell you now there’s much more to have
you’ll have your fire and then you’ll desire something else
but i won’t tell you now
‘cause aven
aven you know
that you’ve got it covered
you do you do now
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Drum Kit
K Sparling: Keyboards, Atmospherics
13: fuel - 2:39
howl like a hungry dog, say what you came to say take what you think is yours
i never needed it
sink like a heavy stone or levitate above, spin in your tantrum
but i never needed it
i could say that you’re a liar
i could call you a damn rascal
but i can see i fanned the fire
fed you coal and left a trail of fuel
to be your tool
so stay in this cluttered room, hide in the corners, sing in your gravel voice
show me the way to go, maybe you want to, i may have been wrong
that i never needed you
i could say that you’re a liar…
V Lowe: Resonator, Spanish and Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
K Sparling: Rhodes Piano, Backing Vocals
14: waterfall - 4:54
stuck like a log in a log jam, twisted about and bogged down
in the perilous curve of a swamp’s arm
the murderous coils of its snake-like tongue
and i can barely hear what the wind says
it’s muttering aloud in an accent
something like a tree from budapest tinged with a wing of spanish
and i couldn’t love myself from a distance
not without a telescope or some other assistance
i would never want to draw erroneous conclusions
a mediocre pen and ink is not a map for good decisions
oh shit i think i hear a waterfall
i’m feeling kind of brave but is that all i was meant to do in this lifetime?
i’ll hold my breath and pretend to fly
i couldn’t love myself…
V Lowe: Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
B Freelove: Bass
T Hawkins: Djembe
K Sparling: Percussion, Rhodes Piano, Celeste , Backing Vocals
M Boisen: Electric Guitar
Samba Partido de Um: Brazillian Percussion
© and p. 2008 the jicama salad company (bmi)