LYRICS FROM THE TURKEY SESSIONS (2005)
all lyrics and music ©2005, Julia Marvel. Burgsidge Publishing (ASCAP)

I WANT MY FLOWERS BEFORE I DIE

Removed from hallowed heaven, back into the physical world (where all my fame and fortune has yet to be unfurled), I watch as my inventions exist without reward. Every time they're dancing, I'm broke and un-adored. I want my flowers while I'm still alive. I want to smell them before I die. I'm the genuine article. There's truth in every pose. I'm not some dandelion scented like a rose. Without you in my life, there's no reason all to make this final curtain ... this final curtain call.

CLOSER TO THE ACTION

Why did I go out tonight? I could've stayed at home. Why did I spend my money and time to still end up alone? "Closer to the action": why did I go out tonight? I'm closer to the action. I woke up with a manic phase, just after 2am. I knew I couldn't call you up or interrupt my friends. Tomorrow is always the same. I go to the same places and see the same faces, and i know their names, and they know my name. Reruns on the TV set. I swear this town is a joke that no one gets. The crazy girl's dancing by herself again.

CARTOON RUMORS

"Did you hear about Aquaman?" said the girl with the pantone skin. So where are you when night arrives? Publicizing private lives. Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name. No, you don't talk to me, but you talk to everybody, spreading cartoon rumors every day. And what's not there by the end, you just color the rest in, spreading cartoon rumors every day. My late-night face on the news channel: like being trapped in the Sunday panel. Frames surround my every move. The lazy eyes accept as truth - oh, yeah - that we were spied canoodling in the booth. Now i can't look her in the eye. I'm just some two-dimensional guy crushed by cartoon rumors every day. And what's not there by the end, you just color the rest in, spreading cartoon rumors every day. Cartoon rumors.

ONLY IMAGINE

I can only imagine what you're doing. You don't stay on the phone too long, leaving me with favorite memories, versus everything that's wrong. I can only imagine who you're seeing with those bloodshot eyes that strain. The future's view is obscured by you, bringing tears i can't contain. I went on a drive through nature, where someone said i'd find the truth. But I ended up back in the city, feeling like an unaccomplished sleuth. I can only imagine what you're hearing from our acquaintances' mutual friends. They say "ol' Davey's running away," but now I'm on your street again. You can only imagine why the light from your window feels like a klieg light on this one-man show. You can only imagine why I abhor the silence so, the skipping record on the stereo. So you can only imagine what I'll be doing with the pictures, letters and songs. There's an empty case on the floor beside me. It won't stay that way for very long.

WHALE OF A TIME

I was crazy about you. Now, conversations slip right through. The air is supercharged today. Disavow or limply wave if you should somehow stumble in this place. Turn around. I just might see your face. You and I had a whale of a time, but I don't know you anymore. You and I had a whale of a time - a whale of a time - but that's how it goes. I was thinking about you, halfway hoping we'd work through. But all the scenes we used to steal have crashed and burned like shady deals. I raise this toast to you alone tonight. Without the partner, all that's left's the crime.

TASTE OF THE OCEAN

Oyster swirl. Sugar-donut skin. Cotton-candy hair. I know just where you've been. Horizon-line phobia. Cheap swimsuit. New-moon night. Wasted pursuit. Taste of the ocean is on your lips tonight. Taste of the ocean: why are your eyes so un-dry? The boardwalk buckles, but never seems to break. I watch a toy boat vanish in the waves. You got a call from an old friend today. He gets to town at twelve, and you can't stay. Taste of the ocean is on your lips tonight. Taste of the ocean: hanging out on borrowed time. The ocean rolls on as you wave goodbye.

SEMISWEET HEART

I should have seen the neon signs. You know I've lived these storylines. I'm tearing the pages. You're tearing me apart. Indecent sleep is all I know. Requesting songs on the radio. How many times can you hear the same melody? Everything she does nearly knocks me in the street, with her high heel shoes breaking hearts so semi-sweet. I close my eyes and you're still there. I'm a black belt in solitaire. I've got to find new places to go inside. You're making me think twice again. I want to leave but I don't know when. The settings are the only things that change.

I BROKE HER HEART, SHE BROKE MY RECORDS

I broke her heart. She broke my records. I'll never hear those songs again, can only think remember when. The floor covered with plastic shards: a metaphor for our smashed hearts. The stereo is what I see. It's silent sans obscurities. I'll never hear that song again. I'll never hear those songs again. I broke her heart. She broke my records. I'll never hear those songs again. She broke the thing that I can't mend. Where does vinyl go to die? Heavy rotation in the sky, the broken bits of poetry, like liner notes for none to see. I'll never hear those songs again. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I broke her heart. She broke my records. I'll never hear those songs again, can only think remember when. The floor covered with plastic shards: a metaphor for our smashed hearts. The stereo is what I see. It's silent sans obscurities. I'll never hear that song again, so fare thee well, my 10" friend.

IF THIS IS CRAZY, THIS IS NOTHING

I don't want to let you down, but I'm out of my mind. The real picture looks nothing like what you thought we had designed. You said, "If this is crazy, this is nothing all right." What have I gotten myself into? I shouldn't go outside. I'm trying to turn a roller coaster into a Sunday drive. In all the wandering you do, could I get just one night? I know I'm on your calendar, but am I on your mind? I can't help myself. I'm a book on a falling shelf. Pick me up and put me back tonight. Whoa, oh.

AFTER THE BALL

You made yourself up so pretty. I've never seen a girl like you. I've been to every part of this city, and I've never seen a girl like you. Your eyes, they shine like the ice in your drink. Won't you tell me what it is that you think, before you sink or stand too tall, after the ball. You think you're on your own in your sweater and your skirt, dancing with your cellular phone off the elemental earth. Nobody else has a thing to call their own, not even one stitch, not even one stone. Just you alone disown it all after the ball.

MEN

Men, men, men. I went outside, and what did I see? A bunch of men looking back at me. I went to the store to buy some bread. A man said, "You look half dead." Men! I went to the library. They said, "You can't be the ... man." I took all the books and put them back on the shelf. The Book of Men.