Get all 11 Penelope Swales releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Captains of Industry, Legacy: Two Decades of Topical Writing, Skin: Deep, Archive Vol. 2: Songs from the Borderline 1989-1992, Monkey Comfort, 'Archive': Demos, Out-takes and One-offs 1995-2000, Justifying your Longings to the Doctor, Homemade Wine, and 3 more.
1. |
Getting Back On
04:49
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Getting Back On
© Penelope Swales
There comes a time
And maybe that time is always now
Where you have to follow your own heart and your own path
And just stop worrying ‘bout how
It’s gonna look to the people ‘round
Coz if you know
Then you know what you need to do
It doesn’t matter two cents if it doesn’t make sense
To the majority of the people around you
But I know that if I’m serious
I gotta learn to walk the walk
Most of my life I’ve had it easy
I’ve had my fun, I’ve laid down the law
It’s all very well to strut your theories
But in the end you gotta get on that horse
Like anyone else I have my fears
And it’s like anyone else I tumble off
But I’m getting back on
There is a point
Where most people, even brave ones, will turn back
And anyone you meet out past that point deserves your respect
For just being on the track
There’s a frontier
That you won’t find on any chart
No the dragons drawn there writhe and spawn
In the domestic cartographers nervous heart
But I know that if I’m serious
I gotta learn to walk the walk
Most of my life I’ve had it easy
I’ve had my fun, I’ve laid down the law
It’s all very well to strut your theories
But in the end you gotta get on that horse
Like anyone else I have my fears
And it’s like anyone else I tumble off
But I’m getting back on
Coz there is a place
Beyond the badlands and the wilderness of doubt
A high point where you look back on your journey
Shake your head and wonder how
You made it through
The point is, you made it through
And stand or fall or win or lose
There’s none that can take that away from you
And if you think I’m intrepid
Well, I can only say that I do my best
I’ve had my failures, I’ve had successes
I’ve hurled my curses, but I’ve been blessed
In the end if you want adventure
You take the risk and accept the cost
Coz if you’re gonna head into unknown territory
You might get found, or you might be lost
But you’re taking the chance
You’re taking the chance
Coz when you’re lying there on your deathbed
Well this is the question
That’s waiting for you
Do you regret more
The things you did, or
The things that you didn’t do?
But I know that if I’m serious
I gotta learn to walk the walk
Most of my life I’ve had it so easy
I’ve had my fun, I’ve laid down the law
It’s all very well to strut your theories
But in the end you gotta get on that horse
And anyone else might think I’m delirious
And anyone else might think I’m wrong
But I’m getting back on
I’m getting back on
La-da-da……
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2. |
Sweet Thing
02:47
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Sweet Thing
© Penelope Swales
Hey sweet thing
When you walk in the room
Boys and girls, all alike
They take a number and the get in line
You walk in
And a ripple goes round the room
Suddenly everybody’s contemplating
Having a mmm – much better time
And I say – Oh, darling, use your powers for good?
I do hope you will choose to use your talents
For the benefit of the wider community
Please, darling – use your power for good!
Spread it round, now, don’t be shy
Don’t let your golden age pass you by
Sweet thing
Now, don’t you waste your time
The sooner the others get their turn
Mmm – the sooner I might get mine
Pace yourself!
Don’t you wear it out
I need there to be something left
When it’s my turn to shout
And I say – Oh, darling, use your powers for good?
Don’t use them for evil, use them for good
I do hope you will choose to use your talents
For the benefit of the wider community
Coz you never know
That might include me
Ah, now what makes it work
Is that you’re so pure of heart
Humbleness is a very endearing quality
In a tart
So please don’t get conceited
Coz that’s not where it’s at
You wouldn’t be half as sexy
If you turned into a prat
And I say – Oh, darling, use your powers for good
I do hope you will choose to use your talents
For the benefit of the wider community
Please, darling – use your power for good!
I just wanna sing your praise
And watch that shy grin on your face
And urge you darlin’
Urge you darlin
Use your powers for good--------
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3. |
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Distract me from the memory
© Penelope Swales 2007
I begin to recover
At least enough to be taking lovers
Well no-one can replace you
But that’s not what I’m asking them to do
Anyone might think me healed
To see me out playing the field
If my loss finds a voice
It’s in the way I frame my choices
Give me dusky, not fair
Give me sloe-black, not sandy hair
Give me oil, not cream
Give me brown eyes not green
Give me swarthy, not speckled
Give me moles, not freckles
Anything, anything
To distract me from the memory of your pale skin
I seek refuge in the fray
Many lovely creatures come my way
I look into their faces
I walk straight into their embraces
My love for them is not specific
It’s broad and blue like the Pacific
Benevolent and weary
And I value what they bring me dearly
But I choose dusky, not fair
Run my hands through black, not sandy hair
I lap oil, not cream
Gaze into brown eyes not green
I drink musk in, not spices
And it’s all open, and no-one has to lie
‘Bout anything, anything
Just distract me from the memory of your forbidden skin
And for all that you have
That these men may never have
Well, there’s one thing they can offer me
And that’s themselves because they’re free
This self-possession of theirs
May be a temporary state of affairs
So I embrace them while I may
They help me face another dark day
Without your sunny grin
And I know it sounds like a dreadful, shallow thing
Yeah, I know it sounds unfair
But give me brown, black, blue but not blonde hair
Give me oil, not cream
Any colour eyes – not green
Give me olives, not peaches
Give me strong, dark Southern features
Anything, anything
Just distract me from the memory of your Northern skin
Distract me from the memory of all that lies within
Your sweet, sweet, pale, creamy, freckled, forbidden, Northern skin
Oh, distract me from the memory
Oh, distract me from my memories
Oh, distract me from the memories
Come to me
Oh, distract me from my memories
Come into me…….
Ahh……..
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4. |
Confidented
04:53
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Confidented
© Penelope Swales
I gotta learn it all again
That trick I had to start with
That it’s easy f you let it be
It’s the worrying that makes it hard
Sometimes I let fear
Cloud my mind
I can’t see anything
May as well be a slave
In a salt mine
Perhaps it’s only curiosity
That led me into the dark
Wanting so much just to understand
What it was you found so hard
Freedom’s frightening
When prison is the norm
The dark can be so comforting
When you’ve become
Frightened of the sun
I like to think I’m principled
But maybe it’s just pride
That despite my many failures
I keep on trying
People think I’m foolish
I’ve never really cared
But over time
That negativity
Has soaked into my head
Jealousy, insecurity
It’s like having a heart
Full of worms
Generosity’s the university
In which the heart can ever learn
So why is it so much easier
To drag somebody down
Than to venture with them onto
Uncharted higher ground?
Fears, doubts, insecurities
They’re like a contagious disease
That spreads like fear of plague
Among the confident
Constant exposure to these
Has worn down my immunities
I have become infected
By the things I most resent
The day stage fright
Gripped the diva
Sobriety the clown
Vertigo assailed the trapeze artist
You can’t do this shit if you look down
The day Looey The Stunt Man
Lost his nerve
That was the day
That I lost my verve
When Jim The Lion-Tamer fainted
At the sight of blood
Those big cats that he held in thrall
They got loose
They devoured us all
Ah, why do their fears affect me so?
People that you love, they’ve
Got a way of making sure you know
They’d rather you were frightened, too
Though everybody knows two people drowning
Only drag each other down
Sometimes this pain
Haunts me still
I’m wracked with grief and sorrow
In my house upon the hill
But when I try to free my mind
I know I can be brave
I just have to get out there and try
For another day
Oh, confidence is the only thing
That keeps us all in place
From the schoolyard to the stock market
All over the human race
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5. |
Going Mad
04:18
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6. |
Face to the Light
04:01
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Face to the Light
© Penelope Swales
Turn your face to the light, Darlin’
What’s this that I see in your smile?
I’ve known you far too long
To be mistaken
There’s an ache in your belly, Darlin’
Something akin to an endless need
You don’t need to tell me
I’ve seen her
She is like a young gum tree
She moves so gracefully
Just one of those people
Whose presence is like
A soft cool breeze
You’re shy
And you’re not the only one
Yet sensuality leaps when you touch
But you’ve been
Second-guessing your judgment
Coz you want her too much
You’re strong
And you’re not the only one
Something sparks
Half challenge, half dance
But you’re so solid
And she is so supple
She is like the reeds in the river
That billow and sway
Never losing their feet
Feel he flow beneath you like water
Tricklin’ deep
You love
And you’re not the only one
Yet I know
You’ve been chafing for change
I’ve watched you wrestle with conscience
And tug at the reins
You’ve been staring at ceilings, Darlin’
Late at night in perplexities bed
You don’t hide it
As well as you think you might
My friend
She is like a young gum tree
She moves so gracefully
Just one of those people
Whose presence is like
A soft cool breeze
She is like the reeds in the river
That billow and sway
Never losing their feet
Feel he flow beneath you like water
Turn your face t the light, lover
What’s this that I see in your smile?
I’ve known you far too long…..
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7. |
Membrane
04:53
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Membrane
© Penelope Swales 2007
You split me open
Like a durian
Like a fruit to gorge yourself upon
And I allow you
To pound, to prise, at my
Most delicate openings
Where external becomes internal
Skin becomes bloodstream
And only a membrane
Separates the two
And you’re magnificent
But brutal
Tender and rough
Frightening, desirable
Sensitive and gruff
Spiritual, ha!
And so carnal
Passionate, yet so detached
Yeah only a membrane
Separates the two.
And you peel me out
With your mind, with your words
You strip me down
Til I am unbearably bare
A snail without a shell
A shellfish with no protection
I’ve never felt so naked
In all the years I’ve been out here
You dissect me and expose
My lame desires, my shameful flaws
Demand a level of acknowledgement
I’ve not submitted to before
Demand I give it up,
Demand I give it all
Til only a membrane separates us two
And then you say you just want friendship
And I’m bruised
Because I believed you wanted love
And confused
Because friends don’t go to these lengths
They don’t plumb these depths
They’re not so greedy
Nor so generous
Friendship doesn’t require
This level of acquiescence
The truth is, in essence
Friendship doesn’t cost this much
And I could weep with relief
To be here lying in another man’s arms
Making myself receptive
To another man’s charms
To be entered without being broached
Penetrated without being pierced
Without being asked to say
That this is friendship, not love
When only a membrane separates the two
And all the women that have loved you so sincerely
I feel the echo of their disappointment so clearly
So why should I be favoured where they were not
I don’t believe I shall be
I believe I share the same lot
So tell me, where’s the line?
Love and sex, sex and and friendship
Friendship and love, sex and friendship
You get it all,
Though only a membrane of your definition
Separates the two
And you thought you would be me
And I would be you
Thought I would be the hit-and-run one
Take my fill and then just leave you
Well, it’s not like I’ve never done that,
But damn, I couldn’t do it for you
A shame, because that’s what you wanted
To be devoured and cast aside
How romantic!
Like fruit, like a durian
I could gorge myself upon
A moment’s shared gluttony
With no surprises
And only a latex membrane
Separatin’ the two.
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8. |
Skin:Deep
06:42
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Skin: Deep
© Penelope Swales 2007
I wanna know why it is
That when I see you in your nakedness
You seem so much more undressed
Than anybody else
It’s as if your clothes were your skin
And your skin was just nothin’
And you’re lying there
With every fillet of your flesh exposed
You were sittin’ in the bar
Just a hunch o’ shoulders and a mop o’ hair
And when I spoke, you looked up and into me
I didn’t know your name
But I knew just who you were
Because I recognise that sparkle instantly
There was no need for preamble
We arranged things right away
And your friends laughed to see you
Carryin’ my guitar case
Your laughin’ talk was circular
Your eyes straight to the point
And I couldn’t keep my hands off you
Whether you laughed at me or not
And you drew me to your bedroom
Where I heard your anguished cries
And I marvelled at your bareness
As I held you deep inside
And you clung to me so tightly
You were talkin’ in your sleep
You had me thinkin’
Laughing waters, they run deep
Thinkin’ – you’re like me
You’re in love with the sheer joy of it
And no-one’s got a snowflake’s chance
Of ever taming you
Thinkin’ you’re like me
It’s the thrill, the exultation
It’s more precious than you can explain
And it’s what makes life sweet.
It was a long year later
I was back in town again
And I was wonderin’
Would you hide, or would you show?
When I saw you there, I laughed to see
You were just as nervous as me
But the real reason for that
Was something I was yet to know
You weren’t supposed to be there
Someone had you on a tether, yeah
And I learned the dumb way not to make trouble
I said, ‘Well, it’s been nice to you see you”
Yeah, but just as I was leaving, Yeah
You climbed into the front seat of my car
Well, you laughed and talked and flirted
And you danced around the room
Then looked at me with sudden, sober eyes
Half challenging, half pleading
I said “It’s okay, I’m leaving”
But before I was half-way to that door
I was already compromised
And you drew me to your bedroom
Where I heard your anguished cries
And I marvelled at your bareness
As I held you deep inside
And I stroked your hair in darkness
You were talkin’ in your sleep
You had me thinkin’
Laughing waters, they run deep
Thinkin’ – you’re like me
You’re in love with the sheer joy of it
And no-one’s got a snowflake’s chance
Of ever taming you
Thinkin’ you’re like me
It’s the thrill, the exultation
It’s more precious than you can explain
And it’s what makes life sweet.
But it’s not for any lack of love
But more that there’s too much
More that convention will allow
Coz we’re all so scared of touch
Ah, but you, you could love them all
And let them all be free
And that, my darlin’
Is why you’re like me
But the thing that makes it hard for you
Is the thing that makes you most like me
It’s not your promiscuity
But your fatal honesty
Life would be so much easier
If you could lie, like all the rest do, yeah
But there’s no point in trying
With your hopeless transparency
And you could do what I do, yeah
And lay it open wide
And say – this is what the deal is
And then let them decide
But it’s a hard row to hoe
People don’t like it, and they let you know
Or wear you out with tantrums
Like a child screams and the tide
And you’ll take me to your bedroom
And you’ll skin me sweet and fast
And I haven’t been the first one, no
And I won’t be the last
But it’s only fair to warn you, darling
You talk in your sleep
And I’m not sure that information’s safe
With anyone but me
And you’ll take me to your bedroom
And you’ll clutch me to your chest
And I’ll know I shouldn’t be there
But I’ll be there nonetheless
Because there is a form of loyalty
That goes way beyond monogamy
And I only say that
Because you’re like me
Because you’re like me – oh….
You’re like me da-ho….
I think I know why it is
That when I see you in your nakedness
You seem so much more undressed than anybody else
It’s as if our clothes were our skin
And our skin was just nothin’
And we’re lyin’ there with every fillet of our flesh exposed
Lyin’ there with every fillet of our flesh exposed
Lyin’ there with every fillet … Ahhh…
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9. |
So Lucky
05:33
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So Lucky
© Penelope Swales 2007
We’re so lucky to be here
In a beautiful place, in a time of peace
Of local peace, this peace is local
and it’s important to know and to remember
That it is not peaceful everywhere
We’re so lucky to sit here in the expectation that we can sit here
That no bomb will fall, that these walls will not cave in on us
Our governments may be at war, but we have no argument with anyone
That’s how we feel, that’s what we like to believe
It’s not necessarily what the people on the other side might see
But it’s only random good fortune that leads us to be born into the bosom of the strong
Where we’re so lucky to be able to worry about romance or cars
Or whether or not we like our boss
Lulled by the luxury we don’t realise
The extent of the compromise
That we’re just cogs ina machine, making money for a man
We’ll never meet
It’s important to remember that we did nothing to deserve this good luck
It’s not because we’re better, have better Karma or possess a better god
It’s certainly not because we’ve got better leaders, we’re here because
In order to have all that wealth and power, those in power need consumers
We’re so lucky to be here wearing clothes of our choice
To reveal skin to conceal skin
To pain our faces or leave them plain
To grow our hair or cut it short
We’re so lucky to be able to go out and work
And be independent of our families and of our culture
We may get lonely, we may be exposed to danger
We may get lonely, we may be exposed to danger
We may get lonely, we may be exposed to danger
But we’re still safer here than we would be almost anywhere else
It’s important to remember that we did nothing to deserve this good luck
These luxuries are the legacies of the labours and struggles of the people of the past
Of the women, of the unions, of those who worked so hard
Who risked their lives, who compromised their families, so we could be
So lucky to be here,
In a beautiful place, in a time of peace
It’s important to remember that we did nothing to deserve this good luck
It’s not because we’re better, have better Karma or possess a better god
It’s certainly not because we’ve got better leaders, we’re here because
In order to have all that wealth and power, those in power need consumers
And we’re just lucky that we happen to be the consumers
But in order for them to make money from us
They have to have something for us to consume
And that has to come from somewhere
It has to come from someone
Who once lived in a beautiful place,
In what once was a time of peace
Somewhere someone else has to have less so that we can have so much more than we need
So if we’re lucky enough to be here
In this beautiful place, in this time of peace
If we’re lucky enough to still have some freedom of movement
Some freedom of speech
Then we’re lucky enough to know
What it is that we’ve been seeing
If we’re lucky enough to live
In what must be called, for want of a better word, a democracy
Then we have to shoulder the responsibility
Because we are responsible for the actions
of our leaders.
I’m calling on you to wake from your dream
While you’re, while you’re, while you’re still
While we’re still
So lucky to be here
In a beautiful place, in a time of peace
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10. |
Heart Knows for Sure
05:50
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Heart knows for sure
© Penelope Swales 2007
Oh my friend, it cuts me up
See hear you call in such distress
So lonely and so small
And so distant and so desperate
Where so little of my tenderness
Can reach you
Darlin’ you should know better
Than to think that I’d take sides
In such a personal mess
I long to hold
Your thin body in my arms
And rock you like a child
Lost in the wilderness
Til your heart knows for sure
That this love isn’t a fantasy
How could I ever turn my back
On someone who’s been so good to me?
She says “Oh, Nel. What am I doing?
What have I done?
The more I try to get things right
The more I blunder
And now I’ve gone and hurt everyone
I’ve wanted so much more from life
Than this old friend could give
I thought that I’d made up my mind
But when I came to it,
I just couldn’t do it
Til my heart knows for sure
That this love isn’t a fantasy
How could I ever turn my back
On someone who’s been so good to me?
Who’s been so good to me? Ohh
Oh, Nel.”
Passion holds a pressure like a vice
The crushing weight of need
Well I can’t say I think the new dude’s right
To issue such an ultimatum and cause such a scene
When we demand choices
We also demand sacrifice
But I know you
You’re not capable of the ruthlessness
Required to do what he thinks is right
And all the advantage
That youth, strength and beauty
Could give to a younger man
Will all be effaced by his impatience and his anger
While on the other hand
Your shrewd old dude
Being kind, being wise
Well, he’s not going to force your hand
It gets to him,
But he’ll just sit back and wait for you to understand
Til your heart knows for sure
That his love remains constant and true
And you may endeavour to turn your back
But you know he’s been too good to you
He’s just been too good to you
And she says to me
“Oh, Nel, you know,
I could do worse than stay right here.
And those dreams I had,
Well, I’ve lost my chance
Guess I just have to try
To make things sweet here at home
To make things sweet here at home
To make things sweet here at home
To make things sweet here at home
Though my heart knows for sure
That this love isn’t the place for me
But how can I ever turn my back
On someone who’s been so good to me
And my heart knows for sure
That your love isn’t a fantasy
Through all my errors, all my mistakes
You’ve always been too good to me – ohh..
Oh, Nel..”
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11. |
Anything at All
03:35
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Anything at all
© Penelope Swales
If I could change my sore heart’s form
I’d have you hold it in the crook of your arm
Like a puppy, or a jacket
Or a good book, or a bottle of wine
Held snug against your ribs
Like a football, or an old LP
Or a birthday gift, or an armful of laundry
I long to be held to your chest
Like a warm paper bundle of fish and chips
Like a pizza box
Like a fresh-baked loaf
Of sourdough bread
Anything at all
Anything at all
Anything at all
If I could put my sore heart into the body of a dog
I could send it to put its head on your knee
Butt your hand, drool on your jeans,
Drop punctured tennis balls at your feet
If my heart was a dog I could send it outside
To howl at the moon, tip over your rubbish bin
Chase your car, crawl into your bedclothes
Steal me a slipper and bring it home
I long to sleep in your arms
Like a cat, like a child
Like a seed you might hold in your palm
Dreamless, suspended
Waiting for the soil, waiting for the sun
If secretly, I could send my heart to you
Hidden in towels still warm from the dryer
A soft angora jumper, a plump pleasing mango
Anything you might wanna touch, hold or consume
Anything at all
Anything at all
Anything at all
Anything innocent, anything permitted
Anything allowed, anything unrestricted
Instead this contraband heart beats wet and messy
Beneath these forbidden breasts
Instead these illegal fingers tap a tattoo
While this taboo tongue tastes
An uncensored song of you
And because you have a conscience
I pretend I have a conscience
Because you have scruples, I try to have some too
But my integrity’s a sham
If you were to reach for me, I would melt in your hands
I long to be held to your chest
Like a warm paper bundle of fish and chips
Like a pizza box
Like a two-inch master tape
Full of freshly realised dreams
There’s nothing to be done
Nothing to be done
Nothing to be done
I try to call this canine heart to heel
But it pays me no mind
Keeps sniffing and scratching
At the closed door of circumstance
Howling like a mutt that’s been
Left behind
Left behind
Left behind
Aroo…
Nothing to be done
Nothing to be done
Nothing to be done
But when you think of these
Mundanities
Think of me
Think of me
Think of me
Think of me
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12. |
If You Choose
03:56
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If You Choose
© 2007 Penelope Swales
So the great prevaricator makes a decision
It’s time to leave the stage before he wavers
Any further oscillations, he can wrestle with alone
In his transit times, in his backstage moments
And if you choose
Bondage over freedom
Straight Street over the bohemian
There’s nothing I can do
And if you choose
Nurture over nature
Respectability over censure
There’s nothing I can do
To compromise an honest love
For a less honest love
Well, I, I understand
But I can’t collaborate
It goes too greatly
Against my grain
And if you choose
An inner isolation
Over a deeper understanding
There’s nothing I can do
And if you choose
Suppression over reckoning
If you’re gonna crush the whole thing down again
There’s nothing I can do
Coz law and order must be maintained
Artists, jockeys, queers all must be retrained
But always and forever
Our hands will be stained
By the blood of the death of dreams
Who were you in your naivety
To fondly believe you wouldn’t love me?
And who was I, in my misguided nobility
To think that I
Wasn’t going to play for keeps?
Choose a path
You better choose it wisely
Follow it cleanly, undividedly
That’s what you have to do
And oh, how far
Did I allow you to entice me
Into the world of compromise
That’s what I chose to do
And if you choose
Bondage over freedom
Straight Street over the bohemian
There’s nothing I can do
And if you choose
Nurture over nature
Respectability over censure
There’s nothing I can do
And if you choose
An inner isolation
Over a deeper understanding
There’s nothing I can do
And if you choose
Suppression over reckoning
If you’re gonna crush the whole thing down again
There’s nothing I can do
There’s nothing
There’s nothing I can do
There’s nothing
There’s nothing I can do
There’s nothing I can do
Ahh…..
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13. |
Simultaneous Betrayal
04:46
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Simultaneous Betrayal
© Penelope Swales 2007
Oh, my love
Your shamefaced note came creeping
Into my letterbox,
Didn’t say a thing
I hadn’t already been hearing
I’m not stupid
Even if I am a little foolish
But that’s ok.
So you’ve fallen out of love
Or that’s what you’re saying now
You make it sound just like an accident
But I feel that it’s a choice somehow
I’m not naïve
You’re not saying anything to me
I haven’t said to someone else by now
If you can’t be loved you can at least be graceful
If you can’t have the feast, well you can still be tasteful
And throwin’ good love after bad for you
Would just be wasteful
Oh sweetheart
I could say I told you so
But where’s the sense in that
I’d just make myself sound shallow
And if I ever felt our love might not make the grade
Well, I kept it to myself and gave it my best shot anyway
Yeah, and that’s ok
Yeah, sure, that’s okay, it was worth every moment
Yeah, I mean it – and that’s a big statement
And I sure as hell hope you’ve got the good grace
To appreciate it
Oh sweetheart,
Silence isn’t honesty
Or maybe it is
Any road, you got your point across to me yeah
Now you apologise for cowardice
Sure, fire away
But I’ve been over this whole scene this many a day
And I bet we both know you wouldn’t be so
Contrite if it really mattered to you anyway.
If I can’t be loved
Well, I can still be gracious
If I can’t be intimate
Then hell, I’ll be spacious
Your defection relieves me of my conscience
After all that erotic excellence
Well, I guess it’s not so very surprising
We had simultaneous betrayal at the end
Yeah, I guess it’s not so very surprising
We had simultaneous betrayal
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14. |
Favourite Sinner
03:12
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Favourite Sinner
© Penelope Swales 2007
Oh, the restaurant signs are glowin’
On highways A, B, C, D, E and G, yeah
The Greyhound is rolling
It’s gonna bring you back to me
Well, I’m haunted by your vision
Haunted by the things I see
Knowin’ how your hard, ragged laughter
Would ring if you were here with me
Chorus:
Take me back, my favourite sinner
To a Summer in your arms
Where everything I ever wanted
Was right there in my palm
In a schizophrenic country
Strength and vulnerability
Knowin’ there was somethin’ you needed
You could only get from me
Well the hair upon your belly
Oh, the creases on your face
Oh-ah, the way you shave so badly
These things can’t be erased
Mm, the skin upon your shoulders
The way it smells when wet with kisses
That slight bruisin’ deep inside me
Your soft and knowing fingers
Chorus
Ahh – da da….
Ridin’ high on torn upholstery
State after State unrolled
It felt like heaven, smelt like freedom
But you were only on parole
Now you’re locked inside this winter
I think about you in your cell
You and your kind-hearted jailer
Some things I can never tell
Take me back, my favourite sinner
To a Summer in your arms
Where everything I ever wanted
Was right there in my palm
Your arms tighten ‘round the corner
Stop me slidin’ from your knee
Here in the dull-roaring darkness
I sing to you, you sing to me
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Penelope Swales Boolarra, Australia
Penelope Swales has been articulating the human condition with passion and humour for 30+ years. She sings about politics, love, friendship, the unbreakable bond between us and dogs and the impact of the Internet on society. She won the 2019 Alistair Hulett Songs for Social Justice Award with “Cambridge Analytica”. “The Ides of March in Christchurch" was short-listed for the same award in 2020. ... more
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