judy garland! (you're never home)
i've probably seen craig cardiff perform nearly a dozen times now, and he just gets better every time. nearly every song offers lyrics that i appreciate, and the quality of craig's albums is second only to hearing him perform live. aside from his music, he is hands down one of the best story tellers i've ever met, making his performances intimate and evoking a wide spectrum of emotion. it's not uncommon for me to both laugh and cry at his shows. craig's 1996 release judy garland! (you're never home) is my favourite of his 10[?!] albums, as it is quite possibly one of the most lyrically solid albums beginning to end that i have ever heard.
how did you sneak in? i thought all the doors had been closed
now that you're here, i don't think i can stand to see you go
- circus
old bars, alcohol and cigarettes
late to rise, late to show and late for bed
you say you're this self contained unit
having someone around would only ruin it
- radio 9
hey i never told you you're my judy garland
me, i'm your cyclone
calling out to kansas but you were never home
every song sounds like a love song
every kiss feels like your first
i'm afraid i'm losing you
from better than bad back to worse
- judy garland
anything worth having is never easy
the pain is only a sign
if you can just push through and
make it out of bed
everything will be fine
- grandma
i just don't get how you don't get it
you used to be so good at pointing out the shit
and now you're tied up in knots
and everything you've got is slipping away before you even had it
and its a long road
it must get hard to walk
my doors always o p e n if you need someplace to stop
and it's a long day and it must get hard to do
when it feels like everybody just wants a piece of you
- your road
all that's left are promises
you must be getting tired of promises
between this beginning and our end
there must be something we haven't said
- oxygen tent
oh what is this feeling that we're feeling?
that makes me feel so small
makes me feel like you don't
you don't need, don't need me at all
oh and who am i to you?
just a collection of expressions
old and angry sentiments
washed away, washed away with time
- open window
how do you say 'i don't know' when my mouth is full of words
how do you say i'm not and never sure without sounding absurd
here it is, 3am and you're the one i call when i get like this
you'll likely always be the one i call to clean up the mess
i could be the lion to your dragon
the river to your ocean
moon stuck in your sky
the calm to your commotion
as long as i can be me
i can't explain why it's taken me so long
to sort it all out and push it into a song
and i'm the boy who sat in the back
i am the boy who'd walk you home
i am the secret admirer the unsigned poem
- lion and the dragon
i pushed you, you pushed farther. i pushed you, you pushed farther
i pushed you, you pushed me away
maybe we'll always be angry
maybe we'll talk when we're eighty, if you make it
and say
'none of this ever really mattered
now that we figured out what matters more'
- pushed
support canadian music! if you get a chance to check out one of craig cardiff's shows, i highly recomend you do :]