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piano 506
greaves,cunningham -john greaves, david cunningham
 
 

RARE EUPHORIA, black art
coloured ribbons, narrow room
dancing girls, watery beer
hard SONGS, tiny whisky
sound asleep, eyes sunk deep
men have drunk wine

I was a spy
my memory is GOING
SOUTH of the border

when he arrived in Messina
the beauty of his Beatrice
sprang up in his heart

swordfish eaten by Messinians
were brightly LUMINOUS

now where does it hurt
eyes hurt too
IN HER presence

they kept it up
she LISTENED
privacy and reticence
you ought to go

no knife no hook
no killing LOOK
a slowly kiss

no more than this
o darling

it's all so mysterious
the magical building
that is us
A MOUTH
to provide us
EYES to guide us
and these
brave hands

keep dry my tears
these tears of glass
a scar appears
as ANGELS pass
o darling

a tip of of water
real and shadow
finger pointing in the sand
at the centre of A LIQUID
arrow
two lovers
HAND in hand

cup and saucer, tiny room
fragile LIFE, sepia bride
tinted husband, real sleep

with me
it's very strange
it was PURE
affection

yellow hair
blue silk
black shoes

grey steel
fly wheel
grey snow
grey dawn

white warm limbs
BLAZING nights
magnificent BODY
exploratory manner

spending
a serious summer
ON ICE
swimming

off the rocks
for you

even at my weariest
I never thought twice
swimming

OFF the rocks
for you

SWIMMING
all around
and never getting closer
to the one damn thing
we knew we needed most
until all
we did was elevate our distance
to a FETID high
a fetish
of resistance

in a way
we never happened
in a way
we were never there
in a way
we were phantoms
in a way
we were FISH
IN AIR
in a way
we never mattered
in a way
we didn't care
and there's nobody left
to tell the tale

a BOOK was a book
in her fluid
a fragment of an impression

he was too lazy
she was grateful
she RESISTED

while she strained
STARTED noisily
she had skirted WILD thoughts

a month after
his arm was about her

you're so mean
I'm not of you

you again
blue AGAIN
I just don't know
what to do again

I don't know
what I can say
you never should have gone away

CLOSE the door
turn out the light
I just know

we'll be good tonight
stay with me
to the break of day
I don't sleep much anyway

things have changed
since you've been gone
I don't know
what's going on
don't ask HOW it is inside
I don't think
I'm QUALIFIED

leafy shadows, DARK water
wooded bluffs, winter picture

slide of ice
snow in the crevices
REEDS in thin black lines
frosty grasses

dream-strayed, turbulent
SPARKLING moon, indefinite happiness
incomprehensible night, frosty dream

he gave no sign
she waited for him
would NEVER let him touch her
pictured the wedding

elle disait tant de choses
du CHANT de la vie en rose
'erreur'
je suppose
c'était plutôt baby
o baby o

elle parlait poésie
'la rose c'est la vie'
le CIEL entr'elle et lui
mais c'était 'o baby
o baby o'

je buvais dans son verre
si grand
si VERT
si troublant
ses nus célibataires
si grands, sévères
se mouvant
dedans
DEDANS
dedans

je l'avais mal comprise
la CHANSON de la promise
c'était à ma surprise
plutôt baby
o baby o

when she came home
sliding from devotion
DEFIANCE oozed away
for a year

the mystic bond
messiah come to save
she had such an OUTBURST
always she was penitent

she moved
she SHOOK
she had finished
she sat and waited

she glanced
she looked
she reverted
one seed

decent man, inner greyness
unfamiliar engines, black SCENT
SYMBOLIC engine, definite biology

young mind, easy thoughts
dormant smile, attractive ideas
important world, regular game
OUTSPOKEN role, grand adversaries

she was pretty
her lipstick smudged

and HE SAW her
disguised as love

another man, a younger one
black rain, WET hair
she smiled, kindness or compassion
the only FRIEND, one of us

the man looking at the camera
I thought he was dead
I thought he died
then he has risen
WHAT WOULD you say

thin man, stiff hair
long hands, refined manner
trusting EYES, clean life

I'd been hoping
to find out what I know
THE NIGHT the lights went out
it seemed
kind of SLOW

they were fine fellows
real smart fellows
but they could not
REMEMBER

their mouths were moving
they were making no NOISE

the powdered faces of the PIONEER boys
they gave no sign
to ease my mind

they could not
remember

to fall ASLEEP
without dreaming
to feel excited
by the wind
and the rain
taken by surprise
o that sadness in their EYES

constructive ideas, essential constructing
unexpressed OPPOSITION, fancied loss
irritably fascinated, transcendental emotion
utterly fulfilled, IMMACULATE care

she did not answer
she did not follow
she was shocked
thrilled as he KISSED
then they were sitting

THEY LAUGHED
like a child

they wanted her
she belonged

every day I try to chart it
the shattered MAP
that was my heart
it comes apart and I fall apart

you could say
I lost my way
you could say
I LOVE you

I feel the same way
I FEEL the same way
day after day
I walk the same ground
AROUND and around

if I could go back to the source
I'd sell the well
and buy a horse
and I'd give my kingdom back
OF COURSE
you could say
I'm way
off course

YOU COULD say
I love you

we have the same dream
a dream is a dream

we are the same stuff
enough is ENOUGH

not a moment passes by
when I
don't believe that you and I
would leave
all them others
HIGH and dry

I'm almost sure we are more
than almost perfect lovers

out for sweetness
properties of light
tints of lavender
small FIRE, golden oak

half brown dismal texts
crimson palaces, varnished chairs
bare comfort, carnal sin

fifteen minutes, last night
this morning, SILENCE
eight o'clock, depleted

a terrible surprise
a complete surprise
a FORMALITY, all prepared
closely typed, scribbled annotation
 
 

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see also:
the greaves,cunningham track by track commentary
john greaves -discography
david cunningham -discography
greaves, cunningham piano 506

return to: piano catalogue

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© 1991 john greaves and david cunningham