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 dust