The
Flame and the Smoulder (back
to top)
© 2002
Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
It’s a flame and a smoulder
A good hurricane could blow it away
But it grows on the rooftop and it thinks
That the wind forgot today
The flame and the smoulder
Go to the gallery to talk amongst the frames
The circle of Frenchmen swirled like a mobile
She said, it’s beauty, he said, there’s nothing ever new
here
The bodies are bloodied blistered and
Pushing through the glass
He sat for an hour and wondered
If the war was real
And he didn’t ask her but she saw the lipstick
On the soldiers and the letter on the ground
That said, don’t believe everything you feel
And this is her favorite room
You can see the outside if you look up
And here on the wall between the corner and the door
She is hiding amongst the frames
She said, it’s the colors
The suddenness of line and light
He said, I don’t understand your eyes,
She said, you have to look to find the girl
So the flame left the smoulder in the gallery
Between the corner and the door
She walked home in summer remembered in fall
That winter was coming
But she was the flame
So the smoulder did not scar
And the spring was not too far
And there in the sculpture garden
Between the scaffolding and the sky
She found a burning
He said, I see what you mean, the line and the light
And the topaz of your eyes
He said, I see what you mean, the line and the light
Through the topaz of your eyes
Through the topaz of your eyes
Through the topaz of your eyes.
Contessina (back
to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
My dear Contessina
My father built your home
Every angle to match the beauty of your own
They speak of your fragile frame
They don’t know the bone inside
For you could raise their walls without a glimmer of their pride
But I am a poor sculptor
And I have no stone for you today
My dear Contessina
The parlor is full and waiting
You dress in your finest then go to greet them
My dear Contessina
Your children are grown and well
Tomorrow I must leave there is a man with a stone to sell
For I am but a poor sculptor
And I have no stone for you today
Down in the quarries
We bring a canary
And he sings and he sings till he can sing no more
My horse he travels swiftly
For he brought me here to you
You whisper of regret, my dear we always knew
My dear Contessina
You move in my like oceans
Today I found my stone but without you, Contessina I am broken
Take
You Slow (back
to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
If I drew circles black as hurdles staggered in the night
Would you know to jump or would you run full on into the fight
The day goes down you rush the town then hurry to your car
There's where you go and where you've been then where you think you are
You pull from all sides
Impressed if I lie
You hover above me
But you can't touch me
I'm down here quiet
My silent riot
And blow by blow
I'll take you slow
If I were paper and you were charcoal
You could make me black
But you've not read me I'm already deeper shades than that
And you believe that what you see is something you can take
But your eyes close and all alone you shudder till you wake
You pull from all sides
Impressed if we lie
You hover above us
But you can't touch us
We're down here quiet
Our silent riot
And blow by blow
We'll take you slow
And if it all falls away
What would you have left to say
And if it all comes down to you
What would you do
What would you do
What would you do
And blow by blow
I'll take you slow
Yeah blow by blow I'll take you slow
I'll take you slow
I'll take you slow
San
Antonio (back to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
I have filed down, I have filed away
A form I’ve never seen before today
And it was creeping while we slept
Making billows in the curtains
And leaving teeth marks upon my chest
And I’ve been moving all morning
Out of buildings into caverns
Dark as the bell towers of San Antonio
And the sun that fought the rain
Has no hold on my eyes
No I have never searched for that kind of light
And all I can see are angels and acrobats
Married to the ground
But I have heard of cobalt blue and flying lessons
To carry me to your town
Well I search round this room
For something stable that will hold
But no pockets or pantries have I found
And last night you brought me silver with empty hands
And you turned it into that kind of gold only we would know
For the rubies and the amethysts of all the great cathedrals
Pale to the color of your eyes
And the spirits you thought were waiting
Just beyond the bronze doors
Were right beside you all the time
They were deep within you this whole time
And all I have seen are angels and acrobats
Married to the ground
But I have heard of cobalt blue and flying lessons
To carry me to your town
For to carry me to your town
Now the evening comes upon me like a desert
But I am drowning in this bed
The waves of fever and famine I am fighting
With the sound of you ringing in my head
Well I’ve been moving all morning
Out of buildings into caverns
Dark as the bell towers
Dark as bell towers
Dark as the sparrows that circle the bell towers
Of San Antonio
Of San Antonio
Swallow (back
to top)
© 200 2 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
I don’t understand I said
Summertime and roofs of lead
Leave me stranded in a crowd
Be careful what you say out loud
Cause they’ll tie you up
They’ll tie you in
They’ll stretch your mouth to say begin again
And again I waltz the ceiling
Out of real into reeling
And they weren’t kidding about towers and skeleton keys
Cause she dreams of castles and I hear muffled screams
And if it weren’t for this tiny stained-glass window I have found
I would swallow it down
A blackness deeper than darkness
But close your eyes and you just missed the best parts
Of your worst sides you have to crawl to get this far inside
And I can breathe here in the mountain
And I can care but who is really counting odds
Endings of stories believing is half the glory
Believing is half the glory
They weren’t kidding about towers and skeleton keys
Cause she dreams of castles and I hear muffled screams
And if it weren’t for this tiny stained-glass window I have found
Oh I would swallow it down
I would swallow it down
So no apologies from me
They can take what they get or they can leave me
Crawling falling mountains from the inside
Me crawling falling mountains from the inside
And I wasn’t kidding about towers and skeleton keys
She can dream of castles I prefer my muffled screams
And if it weren’t for this tiny stained-glass window I have found
Oh I would swallow it down
Yeah I would swallow it down
There’s a hole in the wall
And I can see a light come shining through
Oh and it is you, oh and it is you
And it is you
Patriot (back
to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
How deep is your love
Cause they’ll try you like the others
Like you’ve committed some crime
Looking over their shoulders
At a cloud in the sky
How far would you go
There are mountains in the Swiss Alps
I imagine myself to climb so high
Breath turns to pills
Hard to take and hard to find
But I am not your patriot
I have flown flags like yours before
I am not your patriot
I am your lover standing outside your door
How long would you swim
There are oceans as wide as you
I would fight sharks to get through
And crawl upon your sands
Bloodied by the journey but tried and true
How strong is your heart
I have heard it beat like fighter planes
On a clear and empty day
I looked up to see your sound
And it was one and the same
But I am not your patriot
I have flown flags like yours before
I am not your patriot
I am your lover standing outside your door
What price would you pay
To simply lie familiar
With the blackbirds on the outside
Shuffling behind the shingles
Just to get inside
What kind of song would you sing
Would you say it all at once or would you spread it out in verses:
Love does not come in colors
It does not come in curses
But I am not your patriot
I have flown flags like yours before
I am not your patriot
I am your lover standing outside our door
One Two
Three (back
to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
You’ve seen me at the grocery store
I sometimes say hello
Our children play in the same park
Where the old women sew
We watch our kids hold hands and swing
While our husbands are at home
Your children they have darker skin
And mine are white as bone
I’ve seen you study my gold rings
And fine silken skirts
I know you know just where I live
I’ve seen you at the curb
And you smile just to be polite
But I know it’s just a face
Don’t we all have lines and curves
We use to make our case
One two three I
Hope you don’t cry
When you go to sleep tonight
If you sleep tonight
Yesterday I was promoted
To the top boss at work
And when I came home I hoped that
Someone might have heard
And yes he said he got the message
And asked me for a beer
But I tripped at the top of the stairs
And bruised both my ears
Now I’m waiting like a red-brown leaf
Who’s half-way to the ground
Judging what the cost will be
And hoping I won’t sound
And footsteps are like bad parades
That go and go and go
I’m praying that they never stop
But wishing that they slow
One two three I
Hope you don’t cry
When you sleep tonight
My little girl she said today
She prayed last night for wings
And when I asked her why she said
Cause birds fly over things
Now I dress her in her favorite shoes
And tell her that she does too
But she frowns and she turns away
And I think she knows the truth
So today when you see me out
Please, don’t look my way
It’s better if you tell your kids
All houses have names
And when they ask the name of mine
You tell them what is right
Tell them it’s the house
Where the children do not sleep at night
One two three I
Hope your children
Do not cry like mine tonight
Buffalo (back
to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
Black and
white like you
Curled up in my shoe
Wrapped around my wrist
I let go of my fist
Straight lines of red and green
Woodcuts of faces seen
I count the moments through and
Not the seconds used
And it’s all in florescence now
Yes it’s all in photographs
And slivers of sun across my lap
Take me to Buffalo
Up where the water falls
Like melting glaciers
To our call
I had minions to walk
A thousand miles just to hear me talk
They built me walls of steel and
Kingdoms at my heels
But it was a dull pain
Like slowly falling rain
That crept into my bed
And slept inside my head
But it’s all in florescence now
Yes it’s all in photographs
And slivers of moon across my lap
Oh, take me to Buffalo
Up where the water falls
Like melting glaciers
To our call
And I was never one
For extended hands
But these are warm and they understand
And I can’t really say
That this is just like dreaming
Because I have never felt so awake
And it’s all in florescence now
It’s all in photographs
And pieces of you laid out across my lap
You take me to Buffalo
Up where the water falls
Like melting glaciers
You give me this all
In florescence
In florescence
Katherine (back
to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
I cradle the skyline with my eye in her hand
And she’s pushin’ poster girls into my speech again
Again
She’s got beautiful wrists she hides away
She makes lists of all the things she shouldn’t say
Katherine
Katherine
Needs a lightening storm
Katherine
Katherine’s
Blood is always warm
Will you show me your scars if I show you my tongue
When you look in the water do you see anyone drowning
Drowning
Drowning drowning down
And he said would you like to get in this car with me
Then swallow this pill for a freer kind of free
And he said, I won’t let you cry
He said, you’ll have a very good time
Katherine
Katherine
Needs a lightening storm
Katherine
Katherine’s
Blood is always warm
She’s got a heart of double-plated glass
Yeah and when she’s tired I am so afraid to ask
So I offer to pay to redden her cheeks
But she just smiles while inside it creeps
Yeah she just smiles while inside they creep
Katherine
Katherine
Needs a lightening storm
Katherine
Katherine’s
Blood is always warm
I swear I won’t let you down
I swear I won’t let you drown
I swear I won’t let you cry
My martyr Katherine
I won’t let you die
Yeah my martyr Katherine
I won’t let you die
One Round
Orange (back
to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
Sketching brave horses
Military men
I called you from a phone in Venice Italy
I once heard someone say
That space is relative
And that time is only a matter of time
Strolling back alleys
Of Duomos and oceans anew
I sipped old wine an afternoon of pigeon songs:
One red rose for time
One round orange for you
There were stern soldiers
With mirror eyes and blackened guns
I tiptoed around scared to be an American
And I wondered at the value
So stern and armed these men
What gem did they protect—what beauty, what genius could I steal:
One red rose for time
One round orange for you
Gaze like a general
I saw the picture that they took
Framed by a symbol which only she knew the weight of its cost
Armed with a baby
She followed guarded by military men
Out in a field a boy with a brass gun player her a song:
One red rose for time
One round orange for you
Still
Love (back
to top)
© 2002 Karaugh Brown/One Room Records/BMI
The road unfolds like a napkin if you pressed it just right
Like the crease in my pants as they fall by my side
And do you know that in Rome I prayed three times a day
Once for my lover three oceans away
And if I told you that my heart was
Just a pump and some blue blood
Would you believe that it could still beat
And that I could still love
Before I left for London when I was seventeen
The holy ghost appeared and he pushed me to my knees
He said girl you’re no saint I’m just feeling kind today
You better watch yourself cause I won’t let you stay
And the lights went but the fire still crackled and tore
Through my lungs like a knife right down to the core
And if I told you that my heart was
Just a pump and some blue blood
Would you believe that it could still beat
And that I could still love
Now this empty motel room stills me to sleep
While the texture of the ceiling landscapes my dreams
There are bridges that are held up only by air
And there’s you with a comb straightening my hair
San Lazzaro whispers songs in my ear
While Michelangelo paints me years upon years
And if I told you that my heart was
Just a pump and some blue blood
Would you believe that it could still beat
And that I could still love
Could still love
Could still love
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