Read Lyrics
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
Where I'm from there's an ocean breeze
And evil eyes and worry beads,
And the twisted arms of olive trees,
Where I, where I come from.
Where I'm from there's a windswept coast,
And whitewashed shacks and nimble goats,
And tangled nets and fishing boats,
Where I, where I come from.
Blue Aegean Sea flows inside of me,
Ancient as the sun, where I come from.
Where I'm from women dress in black,
Carry heavy burdens on their back,
And their hands are weathered, worn and cracked,
Where I, where I come from.
Old men sit in the village square,
And the Ouzo flows and the tempers flare
In the smack of salt in the warm night air,
Where I, where I come from.
Blue Aegean Sea flows inside of me,
Ancient as the sun, where I come from.
Octopus is stewed in wine,
Eggs dyed red at Easter time.
Birthplace of Olympic games-
Tourists visit what remains.
Where I'm from came Socrates,
And various philosophies,
And temples steeped in mysteries,
Where I, where I come from.
Blue Aegean Sea flows inside of me,
Ancient as the sun, where I come from.
THE ALLIGATOR MAN LOVES THE MONKEY GIRL
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
Born a bearded baby, hair from head to toe,
Dubbed "The Monkey Girl" and then,
Sold off to the circus show.
Grew up quite the lady, for a fuzzy girl,
Caught the eye of the 'gator man
Who loved the way her whiskers curled.
And the Alligator Man, well he loves the Monkey Girl.
Yes, the Alligator man loves his bearded Monkey Girl.
Made a striking couple, dressed up, on the town,
Him with skin like a scaly snake,
Her with her beard and gown.
Famous at the sideshow, more so when they wed--
"See the strangest man and wife!"
This is what the papers said.
And the Alligator Man, well he loves the Monkey Girl.
Yes, the Alligator man loves his bearded Monkey Girl.
Bought a bungalow in Pensacola,
Bar-B-Q and hammock in the yard.
Sipping on some rum and coca cola,
Toasting to the hanging moon and stars.
"If I shave my whiskers, chest and forearms too,
Blonde my hair and rouge my cheeks,
Honey what would you do?"
"Looks are overrated," he says in reply,
"40 years we're man and wife-
You've got to love the heart inside."
And the Alligator Man, well he loves the Monkey Girl.
Yes, the Alligator man loves his bearded Monkey Girl.
DEVOTION STREET
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
(Written for my mother, who talked about her childhood home on Devotion Street, in Brookline, MA for much of the last year of her life).
On Devotion Street,
Mama sewed for supper, I sat at her feet
Stacking up the straight pins in a silver heap.
Life was new and neat on Devotion Street.
On Devotion Street,
Summer sidewalks sizzled in the hanging heat,
I drew marks for hopscotch and I jumped and leaped.
Life was full and sweet on Devotion Street.
And the Singer stitched and the bobbin spun
And the mailman whistled and the chores got done
Fireflies at night, bobbing taillights.
On Devotion Street,
Neighbors hung up laundry, mama pressed in pleats,
We prayed at the table when we sat to eat.
Life was so complete on Devotion Street.
Now my hair is white and this room is bare
And these days are long and I sit and stare
At the handle on the door-
Can't remember what it's for.
On Devotion Street,
I was fresh and fragrant as the greenest wheat,
Now I'm worn and brittle like the colored leaves
Clinging to the trees on Devotion Street.
I lived, I lived, I lived
I lived, I lived, I lived
On Devotion Street.
TIME OUT OF TIME
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
It's the hot spot in the danger zone,
It's the tight space between skin and bone,
It's the frank talk at three AM,
It's the line crossed between lover and friend.
It is what it is, it was what it was,
Time out of time, a moment of love,
A toss between hell and heaven above,
Time out of time out of time-
A moment of love.
It's a slow tease in candlelight,
It's a low moan in the dead of night,
It's the soft skate of a sliding hand,
It's a side trip to the promised land.
Tangled and fumbling and torn with desire,
Wedding vows checked at the door.
Seconds strung taut as they tick and expire,
Sanity flung to the floor.
It's a quick drop from a high wire,
It's a pit stop for the devil's fire,
It's a shared look,
It's a closing door,
It's a stained sheet and nothing more.
It is what it is, it was what it was,
Time out of time, a moment of love,
A toss between hell and heaven above,
Time out of time out of time --
A moment of love.
LEAVING LOWELL
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
(Written in memory of my father, Michael G. Kelakos)
Little boy with old man eyes,
Scuffed spats, and a serious side.
At his father's barbershop,
He sweeps the hair, and he wields the mop.
Pictures framed from magazines
Foster the Hellenic dream:
The gods of ancient Greece preside
Over new-shorn men with new-found lives.
But the boy thinks "could be more,"
And like Icarus before
He dreams of wings that soar
And of leaving, leaving Lowell.
Sunday lamb on metal spit,
Women serve while the men-folk sit.
Red Sox on the radio,
Muddy coffee turning cold.
Someone picks Bouzouki strings
With a feather from a chicken wing.
Cobblestones bounce passing cars,
Belching smokestacks smudge the stars.
But the boy sits with his maps,
He finds Africa and France,
And he dreams of distant lands
And of leaving, leaving Lowell.
Eager at the starting gate,
The very first to graduate,
Then work that took him clear across the sea--
Just like his father in reverse.
Is it a gift, is it a curse
To yearn for what's outside our boundaries?
Leaving Lowell.
The boy's long gone-- I've got his eyes,
His urge to go, his need to fly.
He left me with a legacy of burning curiosity.
In this town where he began,
Where he grew to be a man,
I remain a moment-then I am on the road again.
'Cause I'm restless in my bones,
On a journey all my own,
And I'm always leaving home,
Now I'm leaving, leaving Lowell.
CYBER SEX
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
Hey, baby, did I do you good?
Did I do you right, like a lover should?
It's hard to know when you're so far away,
And I'm stuck here waiting for that voice to say:
"You've Got Mail."
Hey, baby, did my words inflame,
Did they make you squirm?
Did you moan my name?
I'm glad I stuck through typing 101,
'Cause I never dreamed it could be this much fun-
"You've Got Mail."
In my mind you are the perfect guy,
Cool and sexy with an evil eye.
Every little word you write to me
Jacks the heat up in my fantasy.
Hey, baby, did I turn you on?
When you read my words, did you, uh, play along?
It's had to type with one hand occupied.
My modem is slow, but my pulse rate is high-
"You've Got Mail."
In my mind you are the perfect guy,
Cool and sexy with an evil eye.
Every little word you write to me
Jacks the heat up in my fantasy.
Hey, baby, try this on for size,
Fifteen smutty pages of abject lies:
I'm 52, I am not 21,
I'm a boy, not a girl, not a holster but a gun-
"You've Got Mail."
Mail male. That's m-a-l-e, honey.
"You've Got Mail."
EVERYDAY HEALERS
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
It's the volunteer at three Am who takes the crisis call
And talks a desperate denizen out of a deadly fall.
It's the teacher staying after school to teach a kid to read-
When everyone has given up, the teacher still believes.
Everyday healers, everyday lives,
Everyday angels, here in disguise.
Like ropes to the drowning,
A roof in the rain,
Everyday healers, everyday saints.
It's the stranger giving sage advice out of the total blue,
It's the lawyer who won't charge a fee in defense of the truth.
It's the singer on the darkened stage who seems to know your pain,
It's the nurse who rocks the newborn strung out on cocaine.
Everyday healers, everyday lives,
Everyday angels, here in disguise.
Like ropes to the drowning,
A roof in the rain,
Everyday healers, everyday saints.
They're humble and human, all ages and types,
All colors, all genders, from all walks of life.
It's the stuff that we're made of,
It's the best we can be,
And it's lurking in you, if you'll just set it free.
It's the worker at the rest home who wipes the wrinkled face
Of the old man in the armchair staring into space.
It's the woman with a child from a foster home
Who hugs that baby to her as if it were her own.
Everyday healers, everyday lives,
Everyday angels here in disguise.
Like ropes to the drowning,
A roof in the rain,
Everyday healers, everyday saints.
IN THIS WOOD
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
It started with a crib, built when she was born
Daddy made it with his hands, buffed it 'til it shone.
Bars on either side, taller than her chin,
Made to keep intruders out and his daughter in
And he said:
"Let this crib have arms, wrapped to hold you tight,
Let the knots be eyes, watching you at night.
I'd be this crib myself if I could-
My heart, my soul is in this wood."
When she learned to run, Daddy built a bed
Wider than her arms could reach, taller than her head
Built of solid oak, polished to a shine
Canopied and built to last 'til the end of time
And he said:
"Let this bed have arms, wrapped to hold you tight,
Let the knots be eyes, watching you at night.
I'd be this bed myself if I could-
My heart, my soul is in this wood."
When the daughter married, she took her wooden bed,
Laid down with her husband in the dark.
Felt hard eyes, watching her, wooden arms holding her,
Could swear she heard her Daddy's beating heart.
Her husband left in spring, suitcase in his hand,
Swore his bride has lost her heart to another man.
Daddy's little girl made her rumpled bed,
Heard her father's fateful voice ringing in her head:
And he said:
"Let this bed have arms, wrapped to hold you tight,
Let the knots be eyes, watching you at night.
I'd be this bed myself if I could-
My heart, my soul is in this wood."
TESSIE
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
Tessie's sour as a crabby apple,
Puckered face like a worn out plum,
Spits out oaths like a drunken sailor,
Guards her yard with a BB Gun.
Shoddy house with the shutters peeling,
Weedy yard with a shrunken tree,
Tessie yells to the cars that park there:
"Don't you try to park near me!
Go away, go to Hell!
I don't need you, can't you tell?"
Tessie sits while her fangs are soaking,
And she thinks of the life she'd had:
Barren, loveless and constipated,
And her friendships have all gone bad.
In the darkness she takes a tally
Of the friends that have let her down.
"Everybody is out to get me,
Everytime I turn around, so
Go away, go to Hell!
I don't need you, can't you tell?"
Shaking fists, blazing eyes
Ratty satin robe.
Tessie sprays the passersby
With a garden hose.
On the evening that death comes calling,
Tessie faces him gun in hand.
Fighting hard for the life she hated,
Tessie takes her final stand, yells:
"Go away, go to Hell!
I don't need you, can't you tell?"
ACID ANNIE
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
Acid Annie, wearing tie-dye, dries her long hair in the sun
Silver tendrils, curling crazy, like a halo roughly spun.
And she wears a crown of daisies, butter yellow, green and white,
And the breeze tastes like the ocean, as a hummingbird takes flight.
Acid Annie of the Redwoods makes her candles one by one,
And the bees buzz round the hot wax, and the wind chimes dance a song.
And she stirs her colors madly, china blue and ruby wine-
She has conjured in this cabin since the spring of '69.
Seasons they pass, no time at all,
Summer of love fades into fall.
Acid Annie drives a mustang, battered bumper, rusted chrome,
And her baby son is twenty, and he's living on his own.
And the poster with the peace sign curls up brittle on the wall,
And her jeans are worn reminders of a dream she can't recall.
Seasons they pass, no time at all
Summer of love fades into fall.
And her old man lives in Fresno, he wears a suit and tie;
He left when she turned thirty-one and never told her why.
She sells her colored candles, weekends in the park,
Smokes homegrown marijuana in the dark.
Acid Annie has a laptop, surfs the chatrooms just for fun,
Does her hikes and meditations, drives to Starbucks when she's done.
And she spins a stack of vinyl, 33's and 45's-
When she sings along to Janis, man, she really comes alive
Seasons they pass, no time at all,
Summer of Love fades into fall.
GOLD RUSH
(Eleni Kelakos)
Copyright 2003 Leg E Cat Music, ASCAP
Daniel was a thistle, blowing in the wind
Dreaming of adventures just around the bend.
Sally was an oak tree, rooted to the ground,
Hungry for a homestead, children all around.
But when he left her for the gold in California,
He held his Sally close and he told her:
"I will come to you, Sally, when my wandering days are through,
When the urge for moving on is gone, I will come to you."
And she said:
"When you get here, you'll want to stay.
Won't take wing and fly away.
Oh, we will love the livelong day. When you get here, you'll want to stay."
Sally planted flowers by her swinging gate,
Daffodils to mark the time that she had to wait.
Daniel wrote her letters posted from the road,
Riding on the railroad roaring toward the gold.
And he wrote her of an ocean deep as longing,
And his plans to mine the gold to forge a ring.
"I will come to you, Sally, when my wandering days are through,
When the urge for moving on is gone, I will come to you."
And she said:
"When you get here, you'll want to stay.
Won't take wing and fly away.
Oh, we will love the livelong day.
When you get here, you'll want to stay."
Well, the fever took sweet Sally in spring of '68,
With Dan a mere two miles away from Sally's swinging gate-
The daffodils were blooming, he laid some on her grave.
He wept himself to sleep that night
And dreamed he heard her say:
"When you get here you'll want to stay,
You'll get wings, won't fly away.
Oh, we will love the livelong day.
When you get here you'll want to stay."
"Oh, I will come to you Sally, when my wandering days are through,
When the urge for moving on is gone, I will come.
I will come to you, I will come to you.
I've a ring for you. I will come.
ROCKIN' THE BOAT AND ROBBIN' THE CRADLE
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Granny's gone dancing with a new date
The neighbor's are talking, what a disgrace
She's wearing a mini, she's colored her hair
Her boyfriend's a baby, but she don't care--
She's sixty-two, he's twenty-one
Its plain to see she's having fun
Rockin' the boat and robbin' the cradle
Doing it while she can and while she's able
Doing it 'til she's dizzy, 'til she gets it right
Rockin' the boat and robbin' the cradle tonight.
He brings her home, wild as a dog
Gunning his low-down Harley hog
Skinny old blue jeans, black leather vest
Tattoo of Granny fresh on his chest.
The lights stay on 'til three am
While Granny hollers "Honey, do it again!"
Rockin' the boat and robbin' the cradle
Doing it while she can and while she's able
Doing it 'til she's dizzy, 'til she gets it right
Rockin' the boat and robbin' the cradle tonight.
If we reversed old Granny's gender
And turned her to a man
And had her love a girl much younger
The world might understand
Out with her boyfriend, flirting away
Granny is growing younger each day
Some say it's silly, some say it's sad
Granny said "hell, it's the best fun I've had!"
Oh, life is short and love is strong
And Granny knows there's nothing wrong with
Rockin' the boat and robbin' the cradle
Doing it while she can and while she's able
Doing it 'til she's dizzy, 'til she gets it right
Rockin' the boat and robbin' the cradle tonight.
CIRCLE AND DANCE
(Eleni Kelakos)
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Locked in a dance step night after night
Married for twenty years
He drinks his whisky, she picks a fight
It always ends in tears
It's an arrangement, two withering lives
Caught in a dance 'til the day that they die
See them
Circle and dance, circle and dance
Circle and dance, circle and dance
And with their partners in romance
They choose to circle, circle and dance.
She kicked him out of their bed long ago
Bad when the kid turned three
She's like an icicle, forty below
Still he would never leave.
Caught in a pattern, they've chosen their chains
For better or worse they're too frightened to change.
See them
Circle and dance, circle and dance
Circle and dance, circle and dance
And with their partners in romance
They choose to circle, circle and dance.
And what they're looking for is right within their reach
She needs what he could give her
He needs what she could teach
There'd be some understanding
If they'd only let go
But they'll just keep on dancing
To the Steps that they know
Circle and dance, circle and dance
Circle and dance, circle and dance
And with their partners in romance
They choose to circle, circle and dance.
WYOMING IN HIM
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Some folks got the rhythm of the railroad
Hard and driving, racing down the track
He has got the rhythm of a rainfall
Slow and steady drumming on his back
Stuck in traffic on the L.A. freeways
Spilling coffee on his favorite shirt
He thinks maybe he won't last another day
Choking on the California dirt.
He's got Wyoming in him
Endless sweeping sky
Wyoming in him
Mountains reaching high
He's a green pine forest
And a river winding home
He's got Wyoming in him
Wyoming in his soul.
Feeling like a prisoner at the office
In a city squirming with deceit
Suffering the idle words and artifice
Truths the only language that he speaks
People think that he's a bit peculiar
Maybe it's the eagle in his eye
Seeing through the surface to what matters
To a place his soul could really fly.
He's got Wyoming in him
Endless sweeping sky
Wyoming in him
Mountains reaching high
He's a green pine forest
And a river winding home
He's got Wyoming in him
Wyoming in his soul.
And he thinks of greedy lovers, and hollow-hearted friends
Caught up in the never-ending game
And he thinks that he'll be leaving
Before the summer ends
For the mountains calling out his name.
He's got Wyoming in him
Endless sweeping sky
Wyoming in him
Mountains reaching high
He's a green pine forest
And a river winding home
He's got Wyoming in him
Wyoming in his soul.
THE APPLICATION
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Her hands are rough for washing dishes
Making the beds and making do
Her kids have grown and now her wish is
To find a job and start anew
She holds a pencil in her left hand
An application in her right
And in the space near "Past Employment"
She writes "All my life."
The man who sits in judgment of her
Is slightly older than her son
He fidgets in his scratchy collar
He's off to lunch when he gets done.
He notices her worn complexion
The tiny wrinkles near her eyes
He writes her off as old and faded
But wrinkles lie.
'Cause she is old like a redwood tree
Starlight on the shifting sea
Good wine, in time.
And she is wise, with the wisdom come
From living life and giving love
Attributes all lost in the translation
Of her employment application.
And in the space near "Education"
She scribbles in "The school of life
I've had four babies, one was stillborn,
I've been a picture-perfect wife.
I've been through both my parents dying
I've been dirt-poor, but I survived
I've suffered some humiliation,
But kept my pride."
And where it says "Position wanted,"
She writes "I'm fit for anything
I've been a nurse, a chef, a plumber,
A taxi-driver and a shrink."
She hands the man her application
He barely skims it with his eyes
He says he'll call her when he needs her
She knows he lies.
'Cause she is old like a redwood tree
Starlight on the shifting sea
Good wine, in time.
And she is wise, with the wisdom come
From living life and giving love
Attributes all lost in the translation
Of her employment application.
THE TALLEST POPPY
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
In a field of poppies, orange as a flame,
Lived a baby poppy-Petal was her name.
From the moment she was born, she reached towards the sky.
Deep inside a little voice dared her to aim high
It said:
"Be THE TALLEST POPPY, be all that you are.
Be the TALLEST POPPY, dare to touch the stars.
Stand up proud and stretch your wings
And set yourself apart.
Be THE TALLEST POPPY with the tallest heart."
Rules and regulations in the poppy land
Made it clear to Petal that growing tall was bad.
"Don't grow past your neighbors" was the final word
Petal just ignored it, 'cause inside she heard:
"Be THE TALLEST POPPY, be all that you are.
Be the TALLEST POPPY, dare to touch the stars.
Stand up proud and stretch your wings
And set yourself apart.
Be THE TALLEST POPPY with the tallest heart."
And the wind, it tried to blow her down
The rain to push her flat
And the bugs, they bit and tortured her
While the poppies turned their backs.
But Petal kept on growing, past the limit sign
Shot up like an arrow, flaming in the sky.
And from far below her, a clamor could be heard
A hundred baby poppies, reaching up to her, singing:
"Be THE TALLEST POPPY, be all that you are.
Be the TALLEST POPPY, dare to touch the stars.
Stand up proud and stretch your wings
And set yourself apart.
Be THE TALLEST POPPY with the tallest heart."
TELL ME WHERE THE LOVE GOES
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Tell me where the love goes
When it goes away}
Does it stay in hiding 'til a brighter day?
Does it slumber like a bear and waken in the spring?
Does it sleep in a cocoon and finally take wing?
Tell me where the love goes,
Does it travel far?
Does it fly to Heaven to heal up its scars?
Does it join the ducks and geese
And travel towards the south?
Does it simply search the earth
For other hungry mouths?
Tell me where the love goes
When it goes away.
Tell me where the love goes
When it goes away.
Think back to the old days,
Days that shone line gold
Back before the spell broke
And our love grew cold.
When we thought that once it found us
Love was ours to claim
Guess we learned that love won't last
Shackled to a chain.
Hold me like you used to
Treat me tenderly
Look into my eyes and see how it could be
If we vow to make our hearts
A safe and honest place
Love might come back home to stay
And honor our embrace.
Tell me where the love goes
When it goes away.
Tell me where the love goes
When it goes away.
Tell me where the love goes
When it goes away.
Tell me where the love goes
And if it's gone, it's gone away.
VALENTINE'S DAY AT THE SATELLITE BAR AND GRILL
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Booth number seven on Valentine's Day
Settings for two, and a rose in a jar
Betty and Eddie are coming for dinner
I see him helping her out of their car
Dapper and blushing and giggling, they sit
He helps her pull in her chair.
He orders wine-"No, make it champagne!"
She shyly toys with her hair
The night is young, the wine is chilled
Their love is strong, their hearts are filled
It's lover's night on Valentine's Day
At the Satellite Bar and Grill
I bring the dinners, the Valentine's Specials
To Betty and Ed in the booth by the bar
Her eyes are shining as Ed lifts a glass
And says "Love of my life, I salute who you are!"
Betty so deftly delivers a scampi,
To Eddie, who gives her a kiss
He takes her hand and he beams
And he says "What could be better than this?"
The night is young, the wine is chilled
Their love is strong, their hearts are filled
It's lover's night on Valentine's Day
At the Satellite Bar and Grill
The candles burn from high to low
I see their faces in the glow
And as I clear the table top
I wish for love like Betty's got.
Coffee and chocolate and, finally, the bill
Eddie gets gingerly up from his chair
Betty, she hands him a worn wooden cane
He stokes the silvery gauze of her hair
They shuffle by and they smile at me
Faces all crinkled and bright
He pats her hand and he gives me a wink and says
"Think I'll get lucky tonight!"
The night is young, the wine is chilled
Their love is strong, their hearts are filled
It's lover's night on Valentine's Day
At the Satellite Bar and Grill
At the Satellite Bar and Grill.
Good night Betty! Good night Eddie!
HOTHOUSE FLOWER
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Penny is precious, bright and ambitious
Of course she marries well
Lives in a mansion
Drives like a bat out of Hell
In her Mercedes, lunch with the ladies
Manicure prompt at 4:00
Smile like armor, body by Workouts Galore
And her husband's never home
And she spends the nights alone
Making friends with sleeping pills and gin.
She's a hothouse flower
A prisoner under glass
A pretty hothouse flower
As spiritless as ash.
Planning the parties, choosing the wardrobe
Picking out matching shoes
Playing the hostess, toeing societies rules
Sniping at waiters, flirting with mayors
Oh, God, she does it well
It if this is Heaven, why does it feel like Hell?
And her husband's never home
And she spends the nights alone
Poking at a blemish on her chin.
She's a hothouse flower
A prisoner under glass
A pretty hothouse flower
As spiritless as ash.
And she's starving for affection
And she's starving herself thin
And she's losing her direction
In a race she cannot win
Silicone bosoms, charity functions
Too many stamps to lick
Too little feeling turning her hard as a stick
And her husband's still not home
And she spends the night alone
Scrutinizing wrinkles on her skin.
She's a hothouse flower
A prisoner under glass
A pretty hothouse flower
As spiritless as ash.
She's a hothouse flower
A prisoner under glass
A pretty hothouse flower
As spiritless
As featureless
As meaningless as ash.
GIMME THE CAR KEYS, DADDY
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
She was just sixteen
When she asked to drive the car
Her daddy laughed out loud and said
"Who do you think you are?
'Cause girls are meant to be driven
And boys are meant to drive
And that's the way it's always been
No matter what you feel inside
No matter what you feel inside."
Little did he know that inside she's thinking:
"Gimme the car keys, Daddy
I can't stand these walls no more
I wanna see what I've been missing
Out beyond that garage door
I want to blast right out of neutral
Press the pedal to the floor
Gimme the car keys, Daddy
'Cause driving's what I'm revvin' for."
When she turned seventeen
She asked her dad that night
"Can I drive to the Dairy Queen?"
But he said "It ain't right!
When I drive the family Chevy,
Your mom sits by my side--
It's men who do the driving
While the girls enjoy the ride
Relax and enjoy the ride!"
Little did he know that his daughter's thinking:
"Gimme the car keys, Daddy
I can't stand these walls no more
I wanna see what I've been missing
Out beyond that garage door
I want to blast right out of neutral
Press the pedal to the floor
Gimme the car keys, Daddy
'Cause driving's what I'm revvin' for."
The day she turned eighteen
She walked up to her dad
And said "I'm gonna drive the car,
Don't care if you get mad."
By now she'd grown six inches
And stood up real tall
She said "What's right for Mama
Aint' right for me at all,
Aint right for me at all!
Listen real close to what I am saying:
"Gimme the car keys, Daddy
I can't stand these walls no more
I wanna see what I've been missing
Out beyond that garage door
I want to blast right out of neutral
Press the pedal to the floor
Gimme the car keys, Daddy
'Cause driving's what I'm revvin' for,
What I'm revvin' for."
TO THE BONE
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1998 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
No fluff, no stuff
Not too, or much
Not fat, or overblown
Just slim and trim
And lassoed in
And pared down to the bone.
When you skim all the fat from the broth
How the soup simmers down to divine
There is nothing so sweet as a note
Left to undulate, shimmer and shine
No mess, no muss
Just minimum
Just essence on its own
Just pure and neat
And so discreet
And pared down to the bone
So resist every urge that you have
To heap more on the crux and the core
Get it down to the nub and the quick
And the heart and the less that is more
No flash, no plus
No frills, no glut
No layered overtones
Just what is best
And the rest
And pare it to the bone
To the bone
The bone
The bone.
I WILL FLY
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
I will break the mold
Color over lines
I will overflow
Walk a path that's mine
I will rise above
I will fill the sky
I will, I will fly.
I will run, not walk
To the farthest star
I will break the rules
I will go too far
I will rise above
I will fill the sky
I will, I will fly
Don't tell me what I cannot do, I will still try
Don't try to make me into you, I am, I am I
I will tip the scale
Overstep my mark
I will search for sun
When the world looks dark,
I will rise above
I will fill the sky
I will, I will fly
Don't tell me what I cannot do, I will still try
Don't try to make me into you, I am, I am I
I will, I will fly
I am, I am, I will I will, I am I am
I will, I will fly
TAKE ME DOWN
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Take me down to where I want to go
Take me down, take me slow
To the depths where I live
I can take what you can give
Take my hand and let me lead the way
To a place we can play
Find a cure to this ache
Take me down, let me tumble, watch me break
Take me where the oil meets the fire
Fan the flames of my desire
Strip away the blinders from my eyes
Make me see, make me sigh
Take me down to where my soul belongs
Where I'm weak, where I'm strong
Take me down, hold me tight
Take me down to that magic place tonight
Take me where the oil meets the fire
Fan the flames of my desire
Strip away the blinders from my eyes
Make me see, make me sigh
Take me down to where I want to go
Take me down, take me slow
To the depths where I live
I can take what you can give
NICKELS AND DIMES
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
She wakes up in the morning and slowly turns her head
And even though the sun is shining
She's overwhelmed by clouds instead
'Cause she sees her husband's pillow
Wasn't slept on in the night
And it means that when he stumbles home
There's bound to be a fight
She throws on an old bathrobe
Runs her fingers through her hair
The lady in the mirror has a hollow, vacant stare
Downstairs, a cup of coffee is all she has to hold
And through she's only twenty-nine and change,
She's feeling mighty old
She thinks she's worth maybe a nickel or a dime
So she'll settle for nothing each and every time
Nobody's saying she's gotta shoot for the stars
But that small change, nickels and dimes
Ain't gonna take her far
The reaches out of habit for a stack of magazines
And leafs through other people's lives
Other women's dreams
Pictures of a movie star wearing fancy clothes
Articles on kids and pets and ads for panty hose
The kitchen clock is ticking and her husband still ain't home
And she prays he hasn't left her
'Cause she's scared to be alone
And she'd rather take his drinking, his beatings and his lies
Than take on all the emptiness that's left behind her eyes
She thinks she's worth maybe a nickel or a dime
So she'll settle for nothing each and every time
Nobody's saying she's gotta shoot for the stars
But that small change, nickels and dimes
Ain't gonna take her far
BURIED IN L.A.
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Rumble on a city street
Jackin' up the summer heat
Baggy clothes and runnin' feet and guns
He is only sweet sixteen
Silver braces on his teeth
Lying in a ruby stream of blood
So much for the junior prom, or graduation day
Just another teenage kid buried in L.A.
Lupe shot him by mistake
With a bullet meant for jake
Aimed up at the nearest face and fired
Just another Friday night
Children flyin' high as kites
Sparring over greasy fries and dying
So much for the junior prom, or graduation day
Just another teenage kid buried in L.A.
And their pierce their skin with metal
And they tattoo up their hide
And the pain the pointed needles make
Dulls the pain inside
Rumble on a city street
Jackin' up the summer heat
Baggy clothes and runnin' feet and guns
God forgive us black or white
Who ignore this scene tonight
Shrugging off our children one by one
So much for the junior prom, or graduation day
Just another teenage kid buried in L.A.
WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT BEING BAD?
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
That's when it started, in the second grade
Billy threw some bubble gum in Becky's braids
Billy and his friend they laughed while Becky cried
Becky ran to teacher, who wiped her eyes
And she said "Teacher, teacher, explain it to me
Why is Billy being mean to me? I'm asking
What's so good about being bad?
Why does he like to make me sad?
Boy, it really makes me mad and feel misunderstood
'Cause teacher, what's so bad about being good?"
Becky grew up and turned sweet sixteen
Looking like a grownup in her faded jeans
Billy tried to kiss her at the picture show
Billy called her silly when she said no
"Mama, mama" she cried that night,
"How come Billy don't treat me right? I'm asking
What's so good about being bad?
Why does he like to make me sad?
Boy, it really makes me mad and feel misunderstood
'Cause teacher, what's so bad about being good?"
Years slipped by out in the world
Becky still stayed a pretty good girl
When the bad boys tried to put her down
Becky didn't bother sticking around, no
At thirty-two walking in the mall
Becky saw Billy looking trim and tall
Over some coffee he took her hand
And he said "Becky, can you understand?
I'm tired, I'm tired of breaking hearts
Help me make a brand new start
'Cause what's so good about being bad?
Why does he like to make me sad?
Boy, it really makes me mad and feel misunderstood
'Cause teacher, what's so bad about being good?"
GOLDEN CIRCLES
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
She is twenty-one, hoping that her life has just begun
She steps out of bed, slips a wedding dress over her head
She's got a young man waiting
Soon she'll be walking down the aisle
Lace and rings and flowers propping up her smile
Golden circles trading hands
Try a shiny wedding band
Promising forever, and ever and ever
Promising forever, and ever and ever
Seven years go by, well you couldn't say she didn't try
Packing up his bag, crying while he calls a yellow cab
She thinks her heart is breaking
She thinks she'll never love again
All alone and single 'til the end, so much for
Golden circles trading hands
Try a shiny wedding band
Promising forever, and ever and ever
Promising forever, and ever and ever
Through the years the heartache lessens
She is wiser for the pain
She thinks maybe that's the lesson:
When you fall, get up again
She is forty-three, picking out a dress in ivory
Nothing too clichéd
Something for her second wedding day
She's got a new man waiting
She looks in the mirror and she smiles
Hopeful this time love will last a while
Once more those
Golden circles trading hands
Try a shiny wedding band
Promising forever, and ever and ever
Promising forever, and ever and ever
Promising forever, promising forever
CASSIE
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Cassie walks by me with all her fur shining bright
Something about her tells me she's primed for tonight
Well, she's fluffed up the whiskers that bookend her nose
Sharpened the claws at the tips of her toes
Cassie turns sharply and fixes those cats-eyes on me
Unblinking night-lights pleading "set me free"
'Cause Cassie likes the night, Cassie likes the night
Cassie likes the night, Cassie likes the night
Shadows are drifting and Cassie's starting to see
Things in the darkness that simply mean nothing to me
And she sits in the silence that hangs by the floor
Breathing the nightlife that's blocked by the door
I turn the doorknob and Cassie's gone in a flash
I turn from jailor to savior, just like that
'Cause Cassie likes the night, Cassie likes the night
Cassie likes the night, Cassie likes the night
Out she goes, out she goes, out she goes, out
Out she goes, out she goes, out she goes, out
Out. Out. Out.
MARRIED TO A STRANGER
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
He never listens when I talk about my day
He doesn't notice when I cry
He rarely reaches for me in that special way
He hardly looks me in the eye
I think he thinks I'm foolish, somber and turning cold
I should be growing deeper, but I'm just growing old
And who in the world did I marry? What in the world did I do?
He could be Tom, Dick or Harry, how'm I ever gonna see this through?
I don't know my husband, and he don't know his wife
Will I be married to stranger for the rest of my life?
She never listens when I talk about my day
I only seem to make her cry
I go to hold her and she pulls herself away
It hurts to look her in the eye
I think she thinks I'm stupid, petty and unaware
Just 'cause I read her wrong don't mean that I don't care
And who in the world did I marry, what in the world did I do?
She could be Sue, Ann or Mary, how'm I ever gonna see this through?
She don't know my husband, and I don't know my wife
Will I be married to stranger for the rest of my life?
Remember when we met? It felt like coming home
You seemed to read my mind, you loved me to the bone
God, I miss the kisses, the passion and the wishes
That we could share the greatest of our dreams
Who in the world did I marry? What in the world did I do?
He/she could be Tom Dick or Harry/Sue, Ann or Mary
How'm I ever going to seen this through
She don't know her husband
And he sure don't know his wife
Will be married to a stranger for the rest of my life?
Married to a stranger for the rest of my life?
MOTORCYCLE MAN
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
He rides a shiny Harley like a cowboy rides a bronc
And his long hair whips the faces of whoever's hanging on
The girls that sit in back of him are pretty and they're mean
And the kind that wear bikinis in auto magazines
He's got the kind of swagger that comes from riding hard
And a flag with skull and crossbones strung across his yard
He's got a bunch of medals hung across his chest
The heart with the purple ribbon is the one that he likes best
He's a motorcycle man, motorcycle man
Tire squealin', mile stealin' motorcycle man
He drinks a lot on weekdays, but he can explain
It's a little thing he does, just to east the pain
Across his leather jacket, it says "Helmets Suck!"
And he talks of a girl who left him, and a run of lousy luck
He's a motorcycle man, motorcycle man
Tire squealin', mile stealin' motorcycle man
Beneath the silver-studded shine
Is a man who sits alone at night and cries
The surface is like steel but the heart's easily bruised
And memories of Vietnam are much too tough to lose
Once I heard a rumor 'bout what he used to do,
Something about cutting hair out in San Berdoo
But that was another lifetime, gone without a trace
And the motor that he straddles can blast him anyplace
He's a motorcycle man, motorcycle man
Tire squealin', mile stealin' motorcycle man
Tire squealin', mile stealin' motorcycle man
motorcycle man, motorcycle man, motorcycle man
ANNIE
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
Annie sits in her room, not a day over two
In a dress that a cousin once wore
She is shriveled and small, like a tiny rag doll
From the start, Annie's largely ignored
Annie shares everything with a sister who sleeps
In a bed barely three feet away
There is no room to breathe, or to grow, or to dream
Annie lives like a bird in a cage
But inside Annie hopes eventually she'll grow up to be
A doctor or explorer with the world at her feet
Brothers one, two and three go and earn their degree
Annie stays home and helps with the wash
She's as smart as can be, but it's 1903
And the old ways die hard in that house
But still Annie hopes eventually she'll somehow become
A lawyer, or an artist with a room of her own
Somehow Annie never marries, her feet nailed to the floor
Like her sister and her mother, trapped behind the kitchen door
And the room she shares grows smaller, as the bitter years go by
And the hope for something larger escapes her like a sigh
She is seventy-two, and her hair's pale blue
In the light at the end of her days
And with barely a cry, Annie closes her eyes
And the life hardly lived slips away
And with her sleeping sister barely stirring at all
Annie leaves the way she came, shriveled and small,
Oh, Oh, Annie.
ANCHORED ON THE WATER
( Eleni Kelakos )
© 1996 Leg E Cat Music/ASCAP
He was eight years old in a border town
In a border life, just his mom around
He was short and wide, finders more like thumbs
And he tripped a lot when he tried to run
And he lived for passing rainstorms
And the rivers that they made
And he fashioned paper sailing ships
And watched them drift away
'Cause he felt anchored on the water
Kind of wild and free
Anchored on the water was he
When he turned sixteen all the boys at school
Had a way with girls and a walk so cool
But he felt ashamed of the way he was
Of his awkward hands in the face of love
So he dreamed of distant waters
And a boat with many sails
And he saw himself a captain
Sharing passage with the whales
Anchored on the water
Kind of wild and free
Anchored on the water was he
The taunting and the teasing, the passing of the seasons
And feeling like a square peg in a hole
Just made him wish the harder for a sea to master
So a-dreamin' and a-sailin' he would go
'Bout a year ago, when the boy was grown
Well, he made his bed, then he just left home
And he headed west to the ocean wide
Fired up to find what he had inside
And he found himself a vessel,
And he taught himself to sail
And he steered toward the horizon
Like a man released from jail
Finally anchored on the water
Finally wild and free
Anchored on the water was he
Anchored on the water
Like he was meant to be
Anchored on the water
Anchored on the water
Anchored on the water was he
