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Justifying your Longings to the Doctor

from Justifying your Longings to the Doctor by Penelope Swales

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lyrics

Justifying Your Longings To The Doctor

If some alchemist
Was to take a scraping from my womb
What a potent residue that man might find
I am not clean
I have been stamped and stained
Cherished and discarded time and again
I am not pure
But I am not ashamed
These indelible marks tell a story
Not for the faint hearted

If some bright young shrink
Was to pull a thread from my mind
What a tangled, coloured skein that boy might find
I am not neat
My thoughts lie in piles
Memories lie heaped in corners, jumbled files
I am not clear
But I might be wise
These dog-eared diaries tell a story
Not fit for such innocent eyes

If some strange surgeon was to poke his curiouscope into my heart
What four-chambered horrors might he find?
If he was to steal my blood and place it writhing on the slide
He'd find it to full of plankton to sustain a human life

My courage has been watered down by the oceans that divide us
They've diluted all my own humble tide
If some long-fingered specialist was to wrap his knuckles 'round my wrist
He might wonder why the hell I'm still alive
In fact, the only reason I can find
For why I haven't pined and died
Is because it is so goddam out of style

If that Oriental sage was to read my pulse
What story would those jungle rhythms sing?
They'd sing a song of longing and betrayal
Of hope too stubborn to need faith
And a loyalty too deep to be assailed

It's hopeless, Doc
It's terminal
I can tell just by the look upon your face
How did I become impaled
In a way that other loves have failed
To nail me to a given time or place?
Can you tell me how it came to pass
That I should become so soaked in sadness
That everything I touch, I leave a stain?
Blood-red footprints in the sand
Smudges where I lay my hands
Iridescent in the moonlight's trail

credits

from Justifying your Longings to the Doctor, released January 7, 1998
Penelope Swales - vocals, guitar, stomp box

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all rights reserved

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about

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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