Roslindale Porchfest (4th Annual!)
Roslindale Porchfest, 4th Annual! -- RS solo, 55 Cliffmont Street, Roslindale, MA
Ramona Silver plays solo and opens for the Hallas Cowboys band!
free and family friendly!
DEATH BY CANDY: SONG LISTING, CREDITS, & LYRICS
SONGS
1. Hang my Head
2. Motherbee
3. Death by Candy
4. Care Package
5. Saint at 99
6. Renter's Hell
7. Manatee
8. Residue
9. The Other Guy
10. Halo
CREDITS
RS: vocals, guitar, keys
guitar: Danny Horrid
bass: Steve Flynn
drums: Jim Weston
Drums on Motherbee and Manatee: Joe Donnelly
Guitar on Renter's Hell: Chris Fitzpatrick
Engineered and mixed by Danny Horrid, John Turco Overdrive, Walpole, MA
All songs Ramona Silver, copyright 2018 Tootsie Music ASCAP
LYRICS
HANG MY HEAD
The stars are out tonight winking at me
Telling secrets that I already know
Like if I stay in line, keep it happy
It’s a knock on my door to let it go
I hang my head
The tick is starting, I feel it in me
Girls parade on platforms with lips so low
They’re out swimming while I’m stuck here fishing
It’s a notch I keep my head above
And when it lowers I breathe
And it’s a numb that says I’ve lost control
And when it breaks I feel alive
Cause it’s all just to woo you
Many are watching, many are listening
But as I write this line I am alone
If you take one thing -- the future is happening
It’s a notch I keep my head above
And when it lowers I breathe
And it’s a numb that says I’ve lost control
And when it breaks I feel alive
Cause it’s all just to woo you
MOTHERBEE
Hey it’s a lot to be
If there’s a girl that you wanna rely on she should be me
Yeah you gotta sow the seed
If you keep on putting the tie on you’ll never be free
I’m on my way and I’m getting paid
By hanging around all these lovers in town like a motherbee
Take all the red lights down
With a green and a little caution we could take town
Raise up the underground
I’m on my way and I won’t be swayed
By hanging around all those others gone down
Deep inside my starry eyes
I know it’s real I won’t be blind
It’s always extra special here with you
Even though they try to tell me
Time and time again to cure me
I can only say “it’s what I do”
I’m on my way yeah and I’m getting paid
By hanging around all these lovers in town who know
Life won’t love til you love what you do
DEATH BY CANDY
She was born her mother’s body
Call her slim but don’t call her skinny
Don’t turn sideways or we’ll miss you
Run round in showers to catch a drop or two
And can you stand tall when you weigh nothing at all?
And you will find in time you will be marched in line
And she’s got a bad mood
In the summer when she can’t get running
She can’t afford to lose
So open up, the world’s your oyster
Dad, please tell me, do you get the
Urge to eat ½ gallons in one sitting?
Celebrate the attack anniversary
Or pretend your heart was just kidding?
And can you stand tall or do you lean on walls?
And will you change ways or wait for a special day?
Yes she’s got a bad mood
In the summer when she can’t get running
So you’ve got some bad news
Tell her later, she’s down again
Yes she’s got a bad mood
In the winter when she misses running
Yes she’s got a screw loose
Wine or candy, it’s up in the cabinet
Load her up, it’ll break her a second
Say ahhhh
It’s so funny how you run me
Even better, be my life’s ending
Waking up in pools of chocolate
Make me a wrapper
Death by candy
Yes she’s got a bad mood
In the summer when she can’t get running
So you’ve got some bad news
Tell her later, she’s down again
Yes she’s got a bad mood
In the winter when she misses running
Yes she’s got a screw loose
Wine or candy, it’s up in the cabinet
Load her up, it’ll break her a second
Say ahhhh
CARE PACKAGE
I am loading the cookies
They will travel for miles
You will eat but a handful
I will eat them in piles
In a package of deep love letters
Under pictures of kids
Will you see your reflection
Or just some things that you miss?
I love it I hate it I’ve been in debate all my life
But now that I’m in it I wanna escape, I can’t lie
Cover all up all your wounds my baby
He’s coming home for a day (a day, a day)
Yeah you just stand and deliver
And then maybe he’ll stay
I love it I hate it I’ve been in debate all my life
But now that I paid it, I want to prorate
If you find in the middle of all you do to love me a little
Make me feel good all right, yeah that’s all right
But if I’m getting sick of a lack of
You think love in a package will pull me through
Not right, no that’s not right
Cause I’m getting drunk on a funk that smells like skunk
And you can tell me how to wash this blue stench out
If you find in the middle of all you do to love me a little
Make me feel good all right, yeah that’s all right
But if I’m getting sick of a lack of
You think love in a package will pull me through
Not right, no that’s not right
THE SAINT AT 99
When I think of you I feel so removed from the fool I am
You live in one room though your love it blooms
Through the walls and over lands
All the wars you’ve seen all the mouths you’d feed
Couldn’t tire your tender hands
Did you think you’d see the new century?
Did you hope to understand?
I never told you but I think you’re one of the chosen few
When my eyes behold you I swear I’m looking at living proof
Of what love can do
There’s a tale or two, your life in review
About a man who kept you well
Bout the kids you raised in depression days
Bout a charm you’d never sell
Still it’s your presence like I’m sitting with a saint in the room
So I’m asking you, please impart a clue
At 99 what’s life to you?
Somebody told me that you were the one behind the Golden Years
If I hadn’t known you I’d think to live was to live in fear
But now I see so clear what love brings near
I’m not the only one to tell you how I feel
Just so you know that what I’m feeling is real
RENTER’S HELL
Sundown on Somerville
Tags on every windowsill
You bought my town, now leave it alone
You Davis highbrows will take it all down
In Union corners where we love to hide
Will be smoothed out by the SUV tribe
Hang all your renters out
Shaken generations upside down
You may measure all your wealth
Up against the Board of Health
Or you may move as soon as you can
You’ve been replaced by the suited man
It’s over, it’s over, it’s everywhere
Yeah it’s over, it’s all over, it’s everywhere
Yeah it’s over, it’s over, it’s every…
Bail out to suburbia
Hail the air and sky above
Pledge allegiance to the culdesac
Dead end roads that never grow back
They say it’s safer but who can tell
The American Dream is in a renter’s hell
You’ve been replaced / It’s over, it’s everywhere
MANATEE
I met a manatee
We swim the great wide sea
Pale roads of Hawaii coming up to me
They tell me I’m lying but I’m flying free
Pass the mountain volcanoes
Where you can depend on the pay per view
He travels pleasure or business
And lays the groundwork for the misses
So there’s two at home and one on Broadway
I can’t forget about my faded guitar
Can’t carry the road, can’t carry the load on a Maui lanai
The babes in arms are free
I met a manatee
We swim the great wide sea
Pale moon surrounding me
It’s a one-way ticket over
Can’t carry the road, can’t carry the load on a Maui lanai
The babes in arms are free
I met a manatee
RESIDUE
Turn the pillow over, cold to a colder face
Yeah you’re feeling older laying in the same dark space
Listen to the clock tick out the time that you have left
You’re waiting for the sunrise like you’re waiting for your last breath
There’s a window in your room waiting for you
There’s a window in your heart that you can climb through
Used to love the moment, the chill of a sudden smile
Now you’re just too tired to wait for a little while
For the window in your room to come into view
Yeah there’s a window in your heart that’s easy to lose
But you best be aware it shows true the residue
Hang on, hang on, it’s all in all (I need a better line than this!)
Hang on, hang on, it’s all in all
Hang on, hang on, it’s all in all
You wake the river mourning, your soul’s in a drifting shell
Wade into the kitchen of a woman crying at the well.
Lay your dreams down gently, take her hand and softly say
I know there is a window, yeah I know there’s gotta be a way.
To the window in your room that’s waiting for you
Yeah the window in your heart that you can climb through
But you best be aware of the truth, the residue
OTHER GUY
Do you remember the wise King James and the golden verse?
Look inside and you’ll find a life can’t be much worse than you already have
I haven’t had much luck with the other guy
Do you remember the time you first found God in your stocking?
Said to pray and the very next day you were blessed with a gift
But you kept on walking
I haven’t had much luck with the other guy
In ‘67 I was going to heaven or maybe I was born there
In ‘85 I’d found my drive
In every church, car and corner said my prayers with Little Jack Horner
Do you remember the time you left the swing in motion?
You said the wave that it made was as big as the God-made ocean
but I couldn’t tell, I wasn’t having much luck
Do you remember the child we made up on Mt. Marilla
In just one day he parted the waves
We could never go back to the way things were
And we better start growing up
I haven’t had much luck
And I wonder why it’s so tough, when will I measure up
To the standards of, of this other guy?
Everybody’s happy now
HALO
Halo’s a no show
Trash can woman
It’s my ride, into the night
Hanging around the city at dawn
In my mind
Call me, tip me
Gonna step on out in the big city
Gonna be a cup, gonna get filled up
And it’s all human, it’s my ride
Into the night
Hanging around the city at dawn in my mind
Wide-eyes, sticking it out where I come from
And still I find
Gonna make my bed where I lay my head
Gonna make my head where I lay my bed
Set the scene…
Step to the city street below
Door slams, buildings glow and grow
Cars lined up like horses in wait
And I pray the Lord my soul will take
Curve through the square where countries meet
China, India, Brazil, Haiti
Outside a bar two lovers lose face
As I mount the hill, Prospect
And race into the Mass Ave, Central Square night
Where all life is music and music and music it pushes me
Into the night
Hanging around the city at dawn in my mind
With wild-eyes, I’m sticking it out ‘til I come home
Until I find I’ve got a lot to like
Roslindale Porchfest, 4th Annual! -- RS solo, 55 Cliffmont Street, Roslindale, MA
Ramona Silver plays solo and opens for the Hallas Cowboys band!
free and family friendly!
Club Bohemia at the Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
8 pm Boors (Providence, RI) 9 pm oblio (Long Beach, CA) 10 pm Ramona Silver 11 pm Hallas Cowboys
$8
AUGUST 1, 2018, NEW MUSIC RELEASE -- EXERCISE THE SPIRIT revisits the energy and grit of early RS (circa, You & Me & Hell, 1995), with new-found lyric armor. RS continues to tout a love of eclectic chord changes and rhythms, a sweet-tooth for harmonies, and vocals sung full-voice or cautiously up close. Not just colorful 2-guitar pop/rock, but eclectic, edgy, electric sounds with sincerity.
This brief collection of introspective songs pushes hard against forces many of us need to talk about these days: insecurity, depression, and separation. "Run to Hide" and "Lazy Bones" are direct conversations with the self-saboteur. Landmine is a love song to a dear one battling a dark, impenetrable lowness. "Ageless Pill (Called Playing)" and "Exercise the Spirit" call out the crazy speed of life and the need to lean on more than humanness to be kind to ourselves and one another. "Exercise..." is the last track, believing in the end, the Spirit can transport us, transform us, if given the invitation.
Exercise the Spirit Graphic Design:
Jim Haggerty
RS rainy sky photo: Julia Hoffman