maybe i didn’t like hear
but i still can’t believe speed racer is dead
so then i thought i’d make some plans
but fire thought she’d really rather be water instead

and peggy got a message for me, from jesus
and i heard every word that you have said
and i know i have been
driven like the snow

but this is cooling
faster then i can
this is cooling
faster then i…

but do i hate what she is
or do i want to be her
and don’t we love something fresh
anything new, virgin

woman, you got too many brambles
hiding under these bushes
woman, you got too many brambles
but i always liked a good storm
always good for a storm

so then love walked up to like
said i know that you don’t like me much
let’s go for a ride
this ocean is wrapped around that pineapple tree
and is your place in heaven
worth giving up these kisses?

and peggy got a message for me, from jesus
and i heard every word
that you have said
and i know i have been
driven like the snow

but this is cooling
faster than i can
this is cooling
this is cooling

(tori amos)

we’re wild and tame and wild again
we’re on and off and sometimes friends
with failed attempts we analyze
the strange suggestions we disguise

i let our kiss fall behind a stone

i read the corners of your mouth
i try to speak but have no sound
i’m out to get you anyway
under the starlit milky way

i let the spark become a blaze

i am in too deep now so it doesn’t matter
how far i go
how long i run after you
i can’t stop myself from feeling the tremble

i don’t have control over this without you

i never tried to cross the line
but in my mind did several times
i turned the page and slammed the door
but you still linger even more

i don’t have control over this kind of glue

between the sacred and profane
nobody hears me chant your name
another year has gone again
and i will never be the same

i keep you close under my breath

(charlotte martin, tremble)

are you still in love with me
like the way you used to be or is it changing?
does it deepen over time like the river
that is winding through the canyon?

are you still in love with her?
do you remember how you were before the sorrow?
are you closer for the tears
or has the weight of all the years left you hollow?

are we strangers now?
like the ziegfeld gal and the vaudeville show
are we strangers now?
like rock & roll and the radio

i can see you lyin’ there
tying ribbons in your hair and pullin’ faces
i can feel your hand in mine
though we’re living separate lives in separate places

are we strangers now?
like the ziegfeld gal and the vaudeville show
are we strangers now?
like rock & roll and the radio

all these white lies hanging like flies on the wall
hard wired, road tired
counting curtain calls and waiting
waiting for the axe to fall

are you still in love with me
like the way you used to be or is it changing?
does it deepen over time, like the river
that is winding through the canyon?

are we strangers now?
like the ziegfeld gal and the vaudeville show
are we strangers now?
like rock & roll and the radio
like rock & roll and radio

(ray lamontagne)

maybe that it would do me good
if i believed there were a god
out in the starry firmament
but as it is that’s just a lie
and i’m here eating up the boredom
on an island of cement
give me your ecstasy i’ll feel it
open window and i’ll steal it
baby like it’s heaven sent

this ain’t no love that’s guiding me

some days i’m bursting at the seams
with all my half-remembered dreams
and then it shoots me down again
i feel the dampness as it creeps
i hear you coughing in your sleep
beneath a broken window pane
tomorrow girl i’ll buy you chips
a lollipop to stain your lips
and it’ll all be right as rain

this ain’t no love that’s guiding me

no it ain’t no love guiding me

this ain’t no love that’s guiding me

on winter trees the fruit of rain
is hanging trembling in the branches
like a thousand diamond buds
and waiting there in every pause
that old familiar fear that claws you
tells you nothing ain’t no good
then pulling back you see it all
down here so laughable and small
hardly a quiver in the dirt

this ain’t no love that’s guiding me

(david gray)

leave me out with the waste
this is not what i do
it’s the wrong kind of place
to be thinking of you
it’s the wrong time
for somebody new
it’s a small crime
and i’ve got no excuse

and is that alright, yeah?
i give my gun away when it’s loaded
is that alright, yeah?
if you don’t shoot it how am i supposed to hold it?
is that alright, yeah?
give my gun away when it’s loaded
is that alright, yeah?
with you?

leave me out with the waste
this is not what i do
it’s the wrong kind of place
to be cheating on you
it’s the wrong time
she’s pulling me through
it’s a small crime
and i’ve got no excuse

is that alright, yeah?
if i give my gun away when it’s loaded
is that alright, yeah?
if you don’t shoot it, how am i supposed to hold it?
is that alright, yeah?
i give my gun away when it’s loaded

is that alright?
is that alright?
is that alright with you?

no…

(damien rice)

even if we drink i don’t think we would kiss in the way that we did,
when the woman was only a girl. (the cure)

back in 2000, my sister and i took advantage of a promotional offer from cdnow.com (a now defunct online music retailer).  for the cost of shipping, we were able to create a six-song holiday album, complete with our own title and liner notes.  we couldn’t resist.

after searching the available music, and debating on the song order for hours, we finally came up with the following tracklist:

1. dance of the sugar plum fairy | 101 strings orchestra
2. the christmas song | nat king cole
3. sleigh ride | 101 strings orchestra
4. i’ll be home for christmas | danny wright
5. winter wonderland | bing crosby
6. have yourself a merry little christmas | bing crosby

next was the title.  we decided on “two plus feet of snow” in homage to the snowfall predictions for the blizzard of 1996 (we didn’t actually get more than two feet of snow in that blizzard, more like 21 inches, but i digress).

finally, the liner notes.  this probably took the longest, and we were limited by space restrictions, so we had to be succinct and still manage to thank all of the appropriate parties.  after much deliberation, we finally reached a consensus:

12.2000 – thank yous:  mom & dad – for endless love; wombat – for endless beeping; poutossin – for endless smiling; looger – for endless pots of stink; big chess boy – for endless flaming fur; poongus – for endless kittenness; bister – for endless insanity.  this one’s for you.

don’t ask.  i know this dedication likely won’t make sense to anyone outside of my tiny family circle, but to us, it was perfection.

in fact, almost a decade later, it’s still one of my favourite holiday music collections.

last week, my sister and i drove out to a little coffee house in vienna, virginia to catch a night of music with charlotte martin.  it was our third time seeing her perform, so we knew we wouldn’t be disappointed, and, we were right:  charlotte martin is a powerhouse of musical genius.

the night started with my favourite of her songs, the dance – stripped down, acoustic, and hauntingly beautiful.  here’s the set:

the dance
veins
limits of our love – all is full of love
edge of the world – galaxies
madman
ready for a flight
district sleeps tonight – outerspace
stromata
keep me in your pocket
the stalker song
one girl army
the last song
tremble
something like a hero
-
wild horses

without question, a night of music to remember.

it was an equally magic, though distinctly different, concert experience.  the hands-down — did i really hear that? — shining moment of the night came with the debut of flying dutchman, a rarity that has only made five live appearances since 2001.  it was also one of the many “sky” references that flooded her set:

give
bouncing off clouds
cornflake girl
starling
hotel
black dove (january)
welcome to england
northern lad
cars and guitars
your cloud
-
flying dutchman (solo) (!)
cloud on my tongue (solo)
-
china
carbon
police me
past the mission
precious things
strong black vine
-
caught a lite sneeze (encore)
big wheel (encore)

tori rocked it out of the park, as usual, and i left the tower theater a happy girl.

i can’t wait to do it again.