1. |
Mind Games
03:14
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Mind Games
The thump-thump of your mind games keeps me dancing
Hot wind of the fire whips around
The bump-bump of forgetting all surroundings
Lifts up like a shadow, dark and long
I trip up when I try to articulate
What goes on when your head’s inside my head
Look up at the sky, the dark gray tatters
Collapse my breath and roll it all away
The fire burns a scar into the doorway
All of you on one side, I’m still here
Echoes of what’s logical keep bouncing
Across the empty floorboards of my mind
Clap-clap go my memories down the stairwell
Tumbling out the door into the field
Snap-snap go the sparks igniting
Catch fire and blow it all away, blow it away, blow it away
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2. |
Switching to You
04:05
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Switching to You
Thinkin’ ‘bout switchin’ over to you
It’s been a long cold winter wondering what should I do
Now it’s spring and there’s a little less fog
How often does a guy like you come along
Thinkin’ ‘bout switchin’ over to you
Elijah ain’t got nothin’, nothin’ on you
He can’t keep a job and he sleeps the whole day through
But when you dance with me and you make me smile
Good with your hands you got a whole lot of style
Elijah ain’t got nothin’, nothin’ on you
But when the sun overhead has broken through
And shines on Elijah and shines on you
I know what I will, what I will have to do
In order for myself to be true, whoa, whoa
Thinkin’ ‘bout switchin’ over to you
It’s been a long cold winter wondering what should I do
Now it’s spring and there’s a little less fog
How often does a guy like you come along
Thinkin’ ‘bout switchin’ over to you
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3. |
Gene Kelly
03:52
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Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly seems like a pretty nice guy
An airy macho daddy made of dreams in the sky
Whom our mother kinda loved more than any other guy
Love comes in and love goes out, and there’s not much we can do about it
It’s foolish to try to reconcile it, oh yeah
Inside the empty barn alone at night
Gene Kelly danced the newspaper into flight
And you have to admit my mother was kinda right
Love comes in and love goes out, and there’s not much we can do about it
It’s foolish to try to reconcile it, oh yeah
The back-lit stage had a spotlight, waiting for the right guy to step inside it
My mother’s scarf was flowin’, ripplin’ in the wind wrapped ‘round Gene Kelly
Oooh, knock down those daddies, oooh knock down those daddies…
Another step-dad, another beat of the drum
Gene Kelly’s arms spread wide around every one
In Brigadoon, in Paris, and across the sun
Love comes in and love goes out, and there’s not much we can do about it
It’s foolish to try to reconcile it, oh yeah
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4. |
Vermont
03:02
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Vermont
My capsule floats around the earth
You vessel is always on the other side
Hello my friend, hello from emptiness
Oooh, from the echo of a hollow pen
I write some words and they lift away
A zero-gravitational drift
Floating into the wormhole
And out the other side
My capsule floats around the earth
You vessel is always on the other side
Hello my friend, hello from emptiness
Oooh, from the echo of a hollow pen
I once lived at the seaside
With ink and dirt on my hands
Crawled around to find myself
But I found a rocket-ship and you
When I first met you that was it
We grabbed guitars and ran down the hill
Drifted around on a buttery lake
Different refractions, different lives
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5. |
Canyon
02:55
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Canyon
Once upon a time in a little beach town
The cartoon clouds parted, the moon gave a nod
Is it arrogance or confidence that made me so sure
The course wasn’t linear, followed from there
What can I tell you son, you like a canyon
Once upon a time I claimed a room of my own
I said: go away, this is my special room
You floated in anyway on a kind of a mist
Who am I anyway, if you don’t exist
What can I tell you son, you like a canyon
Follow me into the narrative that trickles past us
Binding down into the rocks and trail grooves spread before us
Ooooh, forgiveness, forgiveness
Ooooh, forgiveness, forgiveness
Once upon a time I sewed your tether to mine
We swayed and we lollygagged under the fog
The birds flying overhead loosen the air
Just kind of feeling their way, the wind laying bare
What can I tell you son, you like a canyon
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6. |
Love Poem
02:04
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Love Poem
Inside my mind is a little snowstorm
while the ashes fall outside
Someone once asked me what I live for
I responded: open your eyes
A great big circle blurs at the edges
A burned impression, soft as lye
You’re like a pin-prick piercing the middle
To pull me through the hold in the sky
Carry us into the empty field, unconcealed
Inside my mind is a little kindling
A focused effort, sharp as white
Someone once asked me to go inward
I responded: step inside
The grand piano swells with the effort
A rolling forward across the tide
You touch my ear like a silent beacon
While the hush crashes far and wide, so far and wide
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7. |
Beach Bonfire
03:24
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Beach Bonfire
Man what’s got you down, fog folded around
Kick it aside, let’s go for a ride
the rooftop down, wind in ribbons all around
Kick off your high heeled shoes, shake off your Sunday blues
Come over here, let’s open some beers
And play some tunes, don’t you wanna get loose
But we really don’t know how the undertow can pull below, whoa-whoa-whoa
We float above like a crimson dove in the setting sun, baby babe
That’s all there is
Eucalyptus trees, waves breaking in threes
Dancing through California’s fog
The salty breeze hangs delicately
Build up big bonfire, no situation so dire
In the bump of the pickup truck
Oooooh, plenty of wood for the pyre
But we really don’t know how the undertow can pull below, whoa-whoa-whoa
We float above like a crimson dove in the setting sun, baby babe
That’s all there is
And can you bring me higher, and help the load get lighter
Oh, like nobody else, ooooh, nobody else
Yes you will bring me higher, soft, and gently quieter
Oh, like nobody else, ooooh, nobody else
But we really don’t know how the undertow can pull below, whoa-whoa-whoa
We wanna float above like a crimson dove in the setting sun, baby babe
That’s all there is
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8. |
Vamp It!
02:50
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Vamp It!
The footsteps I follow dissolve in the snow
I try to arrive, but I never show
We’d all like to know: how does this lead to that
So I’ll just meander, vamping my vamp, oooh
Take a pretty compass and map out your life
But nothing turns out that way
Do the very best, it’s messy as hell
Wish I had more I could say
Alone with cave paintings of invisible ink
And it’s possible that the cave might sink
I know there were people like me before me
So why does it feel I’ve invented my whole damn world, oooh
Take a pretty compass and map out your life
But nothing turns out that way
Do the very best, it’s messy as hell
Wish I had more I could say
I’ve always had a recurring dream
Where tidal waves wash me out to sea
I rescue myself by grabbing hold
Of a parachute that floats into space
Take a pretty compass and map out your life
But nothing turns out that way
Do the very best, it’s messy as hell
Wish I had more I could say
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9. |
A Song for You
03:32
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A Song for You
I want to write a song for you
I would write anything, if it would take us through
Let’s just be here, no words of sorry or what if
Just to be here, could take us through
I’m all alone when I write this song for you
Your silence reverberates across the lagoon
Is it madness to think you’re sorry, or worried
I call you here, to see this through
What happens when the one you love becomes a mirage, only a shimmer
Oooooh, just a shimmer
When madness is non-descript, reality folds into a whisper
Ooooooh, just a whisper
What happens to me if the story’s just about you
Is there a reality that will lead me through
Cause it’s just me here, writing our story, its meaning
Emptiness, the sound of you
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10. |
Shine in You
05:01
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Shine in You
Balloon in the sky, I’ll follow you
Down on the land, my sister’s news
Skittering, shaking to the core
One bad thing, two bad things, and more
I build a little box to store what’s sloughing off
Twigs and hair; words that aren’t enough
Light a match, let gravity take hold
The waterfall cascades into the trough
Oooh, can I understand you
Ooooh, or understand myself
Is something shifting
I take your hand, we’re still here
Tired eyes, let’s go back in time
A soft golden couch, a warm pepper tree
Sliding down the stairs on a rubber mat
Laughing as we go, as we go on and on
Parallel you, what can I do
Cancer and life, both shine in you
Little floating balls like tinkerbell
The wishing well is rippling and alive
Oooh, can I understand you
Ooooh, or understand myself
Is something shifting
I take your hand, we’re still here
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11. |
The Shimmyin' In
04:27
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The Shimmyin’ In
Your silence speaks volumes when your mood is dipping low
Like wind upon windows, the shaking begins in my bones
So subtle, the shimmyin’ in
invisible beneath my skin
Taking root, growin’ rot, and settlin’ in
Sometimes you disappear, stuck inside the solace of your bed
I stand outside the closed door, worries swirling inside my head
So subtle, the shimmyin’ in
invisible beneath my skin
Taking root, growin’ rot, and settlin’ in
If I climb inside your body, could I shake your body free
Could I make you dance and collapse with cathartic ecstasy
Oooh, I’m out of my depth
So subtle, the shimmyin’ in
invisible beneath my skin
Taking root, growin’ rot, and settlin’ in
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12. |
Merry Go Round
03:00
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13. |
Goodbye Lullaby
02:26
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Goodbye Lullaby
Lazy afternoon, finally
Dreaming of another life
In which I am alone at sea
In a bed inside a cabin in a boat
The boat is like a crystal palace
On an iceberg floating in fjords
If I tunnel in deeper
My instinct is a dark and wild goat
Wild as the maw
Of a net stretched wide
rippling in the dusky waves
In the center of dark
I think of you
And what we might have shared
In another world
Oooooooh, goodbye
Oooooooh, goodbye
Oooooooh, goodbye
Oooooooh, goodbye
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Karen Elizabeth Wood Portland, Oregon
My songs are intuitive explorations of the subconscious heart. Folk? Pop? Broadway? Who knows and who cares! Vamp It is my first solo album and it draws from all the things about music that feel good to me.
Karen Elizabeth Wood recommends:
This was a pandemic-era musical project I worked on with close friends. This album is the precursor to Vamp It.
go to album
Outer Space, Iowa
by Dean Gorman
Dean is a wonderful music collaborator. He sings and plays on two songs on Vamp It, was part of The Magic Hour, and he is an incredible songwriter.
go to album
John is simply the best! He collaborated with me on Vamp It! and did the mixing and mastering for my album. He's an awesome artist in his own right and his Slumber Club album series is a classic.
go to albumIf you like Karen Elizabeth Wood, you may also like:
Would the Light Hold Me
by Oceanique
Celtic-inspired instrumentation, delicate harmonies, and reflective lyrics abound on the sisterly indie-folk duo's debut album.
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Introspective pop songs with transcendent melodies offer a joyful meditation on staying present in a world that often moves too fast.
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Feel The Ground You Walk Upon
by Lewis McLaughlin
Old-fashioned fiddles harmonize with rippling synths on the Scottish singer-songwriter's latest collection of original folk songs.
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