1. |
What is it About Me
02:54
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what is it about me that hurts you?
why do you burn to say things you know aren't true?
I ask as though I don't already know, I wish I didn't have to
what is it about me that scares you?
(plucking interlude - Gm, C, Gm, C)
was it the vengeful cackles of the witches you burned us as?
is it the way that we keep small fires in our houses, anyway?
was it the sound that coins made when they ricocheted off my body during play-dates?
is it the whispered prayers of my grand-someones that somehow still remain?
(plucking interlude - Gm, C, Gm, C)
Am I too much? Are we too loud?
is it the curls that crown my head?
is it the crackle of oil, is it the warmth of a candle,
or the sweetness of honey, or the smell of challah bread?
or the rumbling "H"s that float from our throats, as our mothers sing to us in bed?
I can ask all day, but you'd still want me dead.
(plucking interlude - Gm, C, Gm, C)
what is it about me that hurts you?
(I don't give a damn)
why do you burn to say things you know aren't true?
(those aren't what I am)
I ask as though I don't already know, I wish I didn't have to
what is it about me that touches you?
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2. |
Autumn Soft
03:12
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[SOUND EFFECTS: A MATCH IS LIT, A CHEESEY MONSTER CACKLE IS HEARD, AND THE CRACKLING OF A BONFIRE SOUNDS IN THE BACKGROUND FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SONG]
I'm trying really hard to find the softness hidden in hard times
pickin' out a melody while sipping coffee, stitchin' up the rhymes
knitting up the sweater that I started (and then set aside) last year
pressing all the buttons in the Halloween departments,
letting tinny cackles drown out all the fear
[CHEESEY SPOOKY CACKLE SOUND EFFECT]
(chorus:)
we might not get to trick-or-treat,
but there's still sunset walks and pies to eat!
take my hand, we'll stay aloft
there's still hope for being autumn-soft!
BoO0Ooo...BoO0Ooo...BoO0Ooo...
[CREAKING DOOR SOUND EFFECT]
Candy corn is filling up the shelves of every shop in my small town
sprinkle cinnamon into my coffee, galaxies of gold and brown
blankets on the floor for scary movies,
warm the shivers down your spine
[CHEESEY SPOOKY CACKLE / "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE" GHOULISH VOICE SOUND EFFECT]
wishing I could rewind time...
wishing I could spare a dime...
hoping that a better autumn waits for us,
beyond this ever-mounting climb...
but feeling that we might still end up fine...
(chorus:)
we might not get to trick-or-treat,
but there's still sunset walks and pies to eat!
take my hand, we'll stay aloft
there's still hope for being autumn-soft!
BoO0Ooo...BoO0Ooo...BoO0Ooo...
[THE CRACKLE OF THE MATCH'S FIRE, THEN THE SOFT SOUND OF THE MATCH BEING BLOWN OUT]
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3. |
Love Letter to the Stage
03:21
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(spoken)
I remember all the hours I spent underneath your light
warm at first, then burning into my skin and my face
a slow pain
like only the sun, or loneliness, can bring
I take refuge in the wings
lean against the curtained, big black, starless sky
wish the glitter on her cheeks was yours,
wish the sleek black shoes and crisp old suit
walking away, could be on you
at least here maybe you can choose,
how folks see you and breathe you in
maybe here, for once, you can win?
[CHORUS] (sung)
you were the net I fell into when everybody else fell through
what little light they let me keep, I'd always share with you
I'd take the burning of your metal suns over the cold
life has kept few promises, but with you...
for you, I promise to grow old
(spoken)
I guess I didn't know what I had when I had it -
isn't that how it always goes?
I'd never been so close. I'd never felt the metal suns grow up
until they burnt out into plasma,
felt notes wash over and out from my lungs like sand between my toes
That little girl on the stage ten years ago would have wept
if he could see the man on stage
come into life, breath their voice into the room
It didn't feel too soon
when my voice was washing over airways, twice in a day,
when I was surrounded by friends wherever I lay.
I didn't imagine that after all the waiting,
you wouldn't stay.
[CHORUS] (sung)
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4. |
Accidental Altars
02:47
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look on the windowsill, what do you see?
I spy an old glass cup, full of dead-dry Rosemary
next to a pile of green post-it notes, hastily stacked
near a seashell full of little glass pebbles, and old acorn caps
[CHORUS:]
if you're looking for something that matters you might find it here,
amid the figurines and dried flowers whose purpose is unclear
the body surrounding it all may be chaotic like the sea,
but wherever there is water, there's a beach
a little land of peace
my treasures, staring back at me
(4X) my accidental altars
flickering faintly in front of closet doors
lives a battery-powered plastic jack-o-lantern,
bathing so softly in a gauzy gray plume
of incense smoke, whose dances fill up the room
that sits in a broken beige mug full of soil
where a failed crop of chamomile sleeps
all resting upon cheap wooden card table,
with minoxidil and a Mary Lambert CD
[CHORUS]
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5. |
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they say they won't cover my surgery,
but please don't give me your money
this tangled aching in my chest won't stop, but stay away -
you won't like what you see
I don't want to have my memory smudged by this body I'm in,
but why should I win?
maybe I'm meant to drown, thrown in a dry river
with nowhere to swim.
(2X)
I can't
they won't
so don't
help me
what if I'm misgendered at my funeral?
that's a terrible fear of mine
must be so nice to not think about that at night (must be nice)
take your words and tell them that I was a boy
who likes flowers and tea and other soft things
I don't want to talk about this, but my ribcage isn't strong enough
to hold in all the words, and when that happens I sing...
(2X)
maybe I can
but they won't
so maybe don't
help me
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Salem Corwin New York
🎃 He/Him 🎃
I'm a soft 'lil Jewish actor/songwriter from the Hudson Valley of NY.
Learn more about
my music, acting, and general queer shenanigans at corwinsb01.wixsite.com/salemcorwin !
profile & cover photo were taken by Hannah Corwin.
... more
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