I recently discovered Anna Domino's 1990 album, Mysteries of America, and was very impressed by both lyrics and vocals. To my surprise, I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere on the web, so I've transcribed them here to the best of my ability, in the hope that they will be useful to others who enjoy her music.
The album has nine tracks. Eight of them are written by Anna Domino and Michel Delory; and one is a cover of a song by Jesse Winchester.
This album and others are available from LTM Publishing, and I look forward to being able to expand my collection of Anna Domino's work.
I contacted Anna Domino to ask for permission to reproduce these lyrics, and she not only agreed, but very kindly corrected a number of errors in my transcription.
Some suburban afternoon I rode down Ashley to the tracks Hoped the train would come by soon But you came and called me back in Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall Halloween is best of all With grass so high, streets so long It takes forever to get home In the kitchen after dark On a hot, late summer's night Fans revolve and dogs they bark Moths are drawn by candle light Screen doors slam, street lights go on Mothers call their children home Know who I am and where I'm from And I know I'll soon be going Beyond the fence, rivers flow Rain and sun, ice and snow Through streets so wide, days so long It takes forever to get home Between the river and the rail Skin and bone, tooth and nail With hopes so high, years so long It takes forever to get home Some suburban afternoon I rode down Ashley to the tracks Hoped the train would come by soon But you came and called me back Came and called me back But you came and called me back
As I turn my attention from the spreading stain On the ceiling near the corner by the door The ambulant shadow of an aeroplane Passes over the object on the floor A lavender afternoon is gone... again Or my hands have blocked my vision Please turn the thoughts down in my head... against This swirling mass of indecision And I will make my bed hard as I can take it And I think that I know myself a bit too well Now... I will never say what brought me to break it The damage has been done, and I will never tell I wish you could be here on this afternoon Under sulphurous suffocating sky Till the lightning and thunder brighten up this room And the storm finally breaks behind my eyes You can see things that I can only feel... to be Locked away, their true nature can't be guessed And weren't you just about to reveal to me The nature that lives within this chest? And I will make my bed... [Background chorus: la la la la] I will never tell I will never say What brought me to break the seal of hell I will never tell
All over Paris tonight It's in the air that blows so sweetly Over the city of light One caress, I'm yours, completely yours Under heaven so near It's been like this before At just this time of year For thousands of years And caught at the edge of a dream Water dissolves from brilliant to black A rush and the beating of wings I stand on a bridge with nothing to hold me back Wrapped in velvet air Still and listening Suddenly I am there With all of the world around me It's happened like this before For thousands of years or more And all of my life in that dreary town I suffered from boredom and lack And you have cut the cord that tied me to my worries And I'm sure never going back I'm all over Paris tonight It's in the air that blows so sweetly Over the city of light One caress, I'm yours completely Caught at the edge of a dream Water dissolves from brilliant to black A rush and the beating of wings I stand on a bridge with nothing to hold me back It's happened like this before For thousands of years or more It's happened like this before All over Paris tonight It's in the air that blows so sweetly Over the city of light One caress, I'm yours, completely Caught at the edge of a dream Water dissolves from brilliant to black A rush and the beating of wings I stand on a bridge with nothing to hold me All over Paris tonight It's in the air that blows so sweetly Over the city of light One caress, I'm yours, completely Caught at the edge of a dream Water dissolves from brilliant to black A rush and the beating of wings
We were on the best of terms Only spoke when we were spoken to But in some language without words I thought I heard him say, we were through I tried to find it in his eyes I looked for clues in books and poetry I searched for days between the lines Till he caught me crying and said to me Oh take me in your arms and hold me Where is it that I've been running to? These chains that bind me now are only bonds of a love, so strong and true Once he saw me with a friend Someone I like a lot and used to know He talked as if it were the end But I was bored and I told him so I left for nowhere in a car Having picked a fight and slammed the door It didn't take me very far Till I realised my love wouldn't stand much more Oh take me in your arms and hold me Where is it that I've been running to? These chains that bind me now are only bonds of a love, so strong and true Straining at the bonds of love Straining at the bonds of love Straining at the bonds of love Straining at the bonds of love Oh take me in your arms and hold me Where is it that I've been running to? These chains that bind me now are only bonds of a love, so strong and true
(This is a cover of a song written by Jesse Winchester.)
Didn't he know what he was doing when he put eyes into my head? If he didn't want me looking around me Then he should have left my eyeballs, Left my eyeballs dead. Isn't that so? You've got to go where your heart says go. Isn't that so? Didn't he know what he was doing When he made the magic vine? His own son got a reputation For turning water into... water into wine Isn't that so? You've got to go where your heart says go. Isn't that so? Line of least resistance, lead me on. (4X) Didn't he know what he was doing When he created high and low? You've got to bury the seed and part the curtain If you want the thing to... want the thing to grow. Isn't that so? You've got to go where your heart says go. Isn't that so? Line of least resistance, lead me on. You've got to go where your heart says go. Isn't that so? Line of least resistance, lead me on. You've got to go where your heart says go. Isn't that so? ... [Fade]
I know how to tamper with time By spending the wages of sin I can be cruel or kind Depends the mood that I'm in I sit for hours a day Behind a devious smile You're caught and held in the sway of My web of feminine wiles And you'll never know what fun I've had You should see me go when I'm really mad Sometimes I think that there's just Not room enough in my head My whole heart threatens to bust upon A world drenched in red And I have laughed till I cried At love in every stage And found my tears are soon dried When fed to fires of rage And you'll never know what fun I've had You should see me go when I'm really mad
A haze of smoke rises in a leaden sky It was dawn when I awoke Picked up my things and said goodbye A whistle blows, you look up and I am gone Where I'm bound I do not know The morning came for leaving I will travel in shifting sands Write my name in water Subdue the tongue Carve an image in passing clouds Watch it drift and scatter Like beads unstrung And as the evening closes in I'm wandering At nine fifteen We pulled up beside the quay Into some town I've never seen I am a stranger here and I will travel in shifting sands Write my name in water Subdue the tongue (Carve an image in passing clouds Watch it drift and scatter Like beads unstrung I will travel in shifting sands Write my name in water Subdue the tongue)*2
Hopeless as the moment was, We stood in fascination, as Angel flew Weaving in between us, she wound into the motion A figure of... Dressed like a rose she was, Petals falling after morning dew. All in a breath because time would stand no longer still. Spacious sky over waves of grain Purple mountains in majesty Are rising high on the fruited plain From the sea to the shining sea Hopeless as the moment was, We stood in fascination, as Angel flew Holding a breath because time would stand no longer still. (Spacious sky over waves of grain Purple mountains in majesty Are rising high on the fruited plain From the sea to the shining sea)*2 Hopeless as the moment was, We stood in fascination, as Angel flew All in a breath because time would stand no longer still. Weaving in between us, she wound into the motion A figure of... Dressed like a rose she was, Petals falling after morning dew.
No more nightmares Thrills or pain No more trouble Till the trouble starts again No survivors, doubts or shame Friends or rivals If the world goes up in flames As the setting summer glows Where the endless rivers flow We will walk through the fields of gold To hear the silence as it grows Down a hall of broken mirrors That reflect a violent past I can see why others fear us From the shadows we have cast We are young and we are angry We are so consumed with lust For the beauty of the country In the bank and god we trust All accounts on earth and heaven Will be settled in the dustAbhijit Menon-Sen <ams@toroid.org>