Janis Ian - Souvenirs [compilation] (2004) by Janis Ian (보컬) on maniadb.com

I was never one for singing what I really feel
Except tonight, I'm bringing everything I know that's real
Stars, they come and go
They come fast or slow
They go like the last light of the sun
All in a blaze
And all you see is glory
Even it gets lonely there
when there's no one here to share
We can shake it away if you'll hear a story
People lust for fame
Like athletes in a game
We break our collarbones and come up swinging
Some of us are downed
Some of us are crowned
And some are lost and never found
But most have seen it all
They live their lives in sad cafes and music halls
They always come up singing
Some make it when they're young
Before the world has done its dirty job
And later on, someone will say
""You've had your day. Now you must make way.""
But they'll never know the pain
Of living with a name you never owned
Or the many years forgetting
What you know too well
That the ones who gave the crown have been let down
You try to make amends without defending
Perhaps pretending you never saw the eyes
Of grown men of twenty five
That followed as you walked and asked for autographs
Or kissed you on the cheek and you never can believe
They really loved you
Some make it when they're old
(Perhaps they have a soul they're not afraid to bare
Or perhaps there's nothing there)
Some women have a body men will want to see,
So they put it on display
Some people play a fine guitar
I could listen to them play all day
Some ladies really move across a stage
And gee, they sure can dance
I guess I could learn how
If I gave it half a chance
But I always feel so funny
When my body tries to soar
And I seem to always worry
About missing the next chord
I guess there isn't anything to put up on display
Except the tunes and whatever else I say
Anyway, that isn't really what I meant to say
I meant to tell a story
I live from day to day
Stars, they come and go
They're coming fast and they come slow
They go like the last light of the sun
All in a blaze
And all you see is glory
But those who've seen it all
Who live their lives in sad cafes and music halls
We always have a story
So if you don't lose patience with my fumbling around,
I'll come up singing for you
Even when I'm down...

Jesse come home
There's a hole in the bed
Where we slept
Now it's growing cold
Hey Jesse, your face
In the place where we lay
By the hearth, all apart
It hangs on my heart

And I'm leaving the light on the stairs
No I'm not scared - I wait for you
Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home

Jesse, the floors and the boards
Recalling your step
And I remember, too
All the pictures are fading
And shaded in grey
But I still set a place
On the table at noon

And I'm leaving a light on the stairs
No I'm not scared - I wait for you
Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home

Jesse, the spread on the bed
Is like when you left
I've kept it up for you
And all the blues and the greens
Have been recently cleaned
And it's seemingly new
Hey Jes, me and you

We'll swallow the light on the stairs
We'll do up my hair
And sleep unaware
Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home

I'm leaving by night
I'm leaving alone
I'm leaving it lie
When you waken I'll be gone
I would not beg for me
As I would not beg for you
Though I'd like to be the one
To see you through

Every step you have taken
Disappears with the tide
You're torn up and shaken
With changing your mind
You haven't got the grace
To say you'll finally decide
And you haven't got the strength
To stay and fight

Those people who surround you
Only want to see you weak enough to crawl
They'll lie for you decide for you
And buy up all your rights and all your wrongs
And they'll try to stop your singing
In the middle of your song
For they do not want you free
And they do not make you strong
But only drag you down
In the hole they're coming from

They say you are foolish in wanting the sun
Say you are selfish in learning to run
And they'll tell you that the darkness
Is a blessing in disguise
For you never have to notice
If you're sighted or you're blind
And they'll do their best
To keep you from the light

You're more than beginning
You're learning to fly
You feel like you're falling
But it passes in time
I hate to see a friend
Go down in flames without a song
So I'm waiting by the doorway
But I will not linger long

I'm leaving by night
I'm leaving alone
I'm leaving it lie
When you waken I'll be gone
I would not beg for me
As I could not beg for you
But I'd like to be the one
To see you through

I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired.
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth.
And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say come dance with me
and murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems
At seventeen.
A brown eyed girl in hand me downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
said, Pity please the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve.
The rich relationed hometown queen
she marries into what she needs
A guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly.
Remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
Indebentures of quality
And dubious integrity.
Their small town eyes will gape at you
in dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received
At seventeen.
To those of us who know the pain
Of valentines that never came,
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball.
It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
And dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me.
We all play the game and when we dare
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
That call and say, come dance with me
and murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me
At seventeen.

The days are okay
I watch the TV in the afternoon
If I get lonely
The sound of other voices
Other rooms are near to me
I'm not afraid

The operator
She tells the time
It's good for a laugh
There's always radio
And for a dime I can
Talk to God, dial a prayer
Are you there
Do you care
Are you there?

And in the winter
Extra blankets for the cold
Fix the heater, getting old
I am wiser now, you know
And still as big a fool
Concerning you

I met your friend
She's very nice, what can I say?
It was an accident
I never dreamed we'd meet again
This way - you're looking well
I'm not afraid

You have a lovely home
Just like a picture
No, I live alone
I found it easier
You must remember how
I never liked the party life
Up all night, lovely wife
You have a lovely wife

And in the winter
Extra blankets for the cold
Fix the heater, getting old
You are with her now, I know
I'll live alone forever
Not together now

I’m the belle of the blues, and it’s easy to see
If I win or I lose, it’s all one to me
I was born on a shelf in the rare books library
I reside by myself with my books and my T.V.

I’m an old age pension for the fossilized routine
Anybody for nostalgia, put a record on and see
Here’s a memory of olden days
And a heartbreak grown cold
All that glitters isn’t gold
You get no love for free

You live and you die
And I’ll probably throw it away
But in the end it’s mine
And nobody has a right to say
“Go down lightly - go down silently”
I’ll go down screaming
“Give it back - it belongs to me”

I’m the belle of the blues - I’m used to mingling
With the creme de la creme of higher society
I promise them roses, and an eight-by-ten of me
But when the party’s over
They’re all too glad to leave

Their children sing of sorrow
It’s the same old routine
They’ve begged and they’ve borrowed
Someone else’s misery

It’s an easy act to follow
At least, an easy one for me
Give me my tomorrows
You can have my memories

Souvenirs from an old-fashioned school
Plays coquette on the pillow
Like an old-fashioned fool
Go down lightly
Go down silently
You go down lonely
You go down like me

Love is blind
love is on_ly sor_row

love is no to_mor_row
since you went a_way

Love is blind
how well I re_mem_ber

in the heat of sum_mer
pleas_ure win_ter fades


How long will it

take be_fore
I can't re_mem_ber

mem_o_ries
I should for_get

I've been burn_ing
since the day we met

Love is blind
love is with_out a mer_cy

love is now you hurt me
now you've gone a_way

Love is blind
love is no ho_ri_zon

and I'm slow_ly dy_ing
here in yes_ter_day


In the morn_ing

wak_en to the sound
of weep_ing

some_one else
should weep for me

now it's o_ver
lov_er let me be

Love is blind
love is your ca_ress

love is tend_er_ness
and mo_men_ta_ry pain

Love is blind
How well I re_mem_ber

in the heat of sum_mer
pleas_ure win_ter fades@

Someone is waiting
over by the window
just beyond the stairwell
someone's crying
Drowning in the words
of the prophets
that are written
for the dead and the dying
someone's lying
No one's buying

Someone is dying
Panic in the streets
can't get no release
someone escaping
waiting on a line
for the holy revolution
parading illusion
someone's using
Most amusing

Will you dance?
will you dance?
smell of caviar and roses
Teach your children all the poses
How familliar are we all...
will you dance?
will you dance?
light fantastic in the morning
How romantic to be whoring
boring though it may be
who'll survive
if you and I should fall?

someone is bleeding
crimson in the night
strangers, in the light
a sudden meeting
Greeting one by one
every life rund flashing
before those dashing eyes
Will you dance?
will you dance?
take a chance on romance
and a big surprise?

Party lights
is there anybody here tonight?
Doesn't anybody have a light?

Party lights
Champagne and caviar
cocaine and Shalimar
Don't push too far
your party lights

People tell me that
I'm fading fast
but I can't last
the whole night through
Everybody now
it's closing time
I can't find my way to you

don't lose your head
Remember all those things
your mama said
but every vampire here appears well-fed
You look half-dead
They like you, kid

Party games
somebody pinned a needle in me
and I went insane
Walking on the edge of the line
in the driving rain
I felt no pain
It's a hell of a game

People tell me
there's an end to this
but one last kiss
turns into two
Everybody can't leave now
i don't know how
to make it through

Heady wine
moving too slow for me
can't keep time
watching the silent movie
for a sign
in my prime
heady wine
You move too slow
I'm drowning- don't let go
I'm drowning- can't say no
keep it low
hell of a show

People tell me that
I'm fading fast
but I can't last
the whole night trough
Everybody now
it's closing time
I can't find
my way to you

I'm still in love
though I don't care
to let you know
there's something there
it doesn't show
but when you're near
silly habits mean a lot
I've been alone now
for quite some time, it's true
but every night when I come home
I'm coming home to you
I listen for your footsteps
Sometimes I even knock
Silly habits mean a lot
I've been parading
and I've led a lot astray
Why bother waiting?
when you can have it all today
You may remember
I like my coffee hot
Silly habits mean a lot
So you go your way
and I'll go mine
Maybe someday
our paths will re-entwine
I used to say "I love you"
but one day I forgot
Silly habits mean a lot

Anonymous autonomous will likely get the best of us yet
Before you disappear if you can lend me half an ear, I'll regret
If I treat you like a number
It's because I can't remember your name, mmm
So have another cigarette and help me to forget why I came

Run too fast, fly-y too high, Run too fast, fly too high

On dark and lonely nights I'm only right when things are bright on the floor
Dancin' and romancin', gallivanting with a handsome I score
And if you don't believe me you should see me when I'm ready to roar
'Cause I'll lose my concentration with a new infatuation I'm sure

You run too fast, fly-y too high, Run too fast, fly to high-igh-igh
You got no past, no goodbyes, You run too fast, and you fly too high

Would you believe I was once gonna be somebody-y-y-y
I packed up my bags and I took what I had to the city-y-y-y
Man it was rough to find the best I could be
Waitin' for the limit on a colour TV
Now I've made it this far, Got a room on the park and a view
Brand new, Fly too high
Full Boar version ends here, Night Rains version continues:

Run too fast, Fly too high, Run too fast, Fly too high

Hanging around on the infield, what do you steal
But another feel at the top
Making believe in the long run, when a shotgun
Is the way to get out of the shop
Hang tail in a new jail, You can go bail
You can dance until you drop
'Cause there's no fool like an old fool, in a new school
You just can't stop

Run too fast, fly-y too high
You run too fast, fly-y too high-igh-igh
Run too fast, fly-y too high, mmm-mmm
Run too fast, fly to high (fade)