Kiss Off (Music: Nilsen, words: Angelskår)
Waiting for a feeling to materialize
laughing and crying is the same release
the radio is playing that song that you like
a young band trying to find its feet
I know it’s probably not my phrase
but don’t make me wait
trust me nothing will change
and tomorrow’s all there is
the rest is space
that you’d want to fill with a better world
a better job and a better girl
a purpose or just something that works
for more than a while
you know how it sounds
but you don’t know how it feels
laughing and crying is the same release
you sing about distance
while you’re closing her in
I love you, I used to, I’m sure I did
but all our memories will fade
and when they are gone
who cares about the marks that we made?
and while our bodies grow old
in my mind we’re still
the toughest kids on our street
still waiting for life to agree
and I had you, so you must have had me
back at seventeen
I know it’s probably not my phrase
but don’t make me wait
trust me, nothing will change
and though I cannot feel my years
they’re all here
in my songs to you
and I know that when my number is up
when every song has been sung
and every thought has been fought
I’ll be counting on you to be here
to kiss me off
(Looking for) Truth in the Vocal Booth (Nilsen/Angelskår/Lyseid)
Fifteen and wide eyed
flew to Cleveland on my own
met my buddy Brandon on the ground
Guns ‘n’ Roses
I bought their tape down at the mall
just two weeks after it came out
but B said; listen here is a song
with a different mood
it wasn’t Mötley or Aerosmith
but some english dude
it sounded sweet, it sounded rude
Strangeways here we come
I am such a phony
I always claim this is who I am
until I find another you
I gave up skating
looking for truth inside a cave
surfing the new wave, all I know is don’t know nothing
what I am is what I am
are you what you are?
I’m no bohemian like her
me, I try too hard
thought I loved her voice
thought I loved her wit
still I only sang that guitar
I’ve been listening to singers all along
looking for truth in the vocal booth
and heaven knows I’m miserable now
when words can’t tell you who you are
when you’re running out of choices
you don’t need the voices
just the weep of a guitar
I keep getting younger
man, I used to be so old
at least sometimes that’s how I feel
I miss Van Halen
I miss the fun, I miss the girls
and I don’t care if it’s not for real
things just haven’t been the same
since that suicide note
I don’t want a peek backstage
I want to get the joke
so while you burn out I fade away
into the days that used to be
-
It Doesn’t Matter, It’s Ok (Angelskår)
I was always able to find a way
to get things done
before she came
I’d go for a run and clear my head
these days I lose my breath just turning around in bed
if I come out the other end
I’m going to need a friend
I was always told to do my best
without too much fuss
to be someone you could trust
I wish I knew just what she wants
for every move she makes I’m looking for a cause
like the universe will have to adjust
to what she does
it doesn’t matter what I do
it doesn’t matter what I say
it doesn’t matter what I thought we could be, it’s too late
if she’s not going to wait
I always thought I was someone else
someone good
I was never this afraid
my heart it won’t listen to my head
me, I keep repeating what I should have said
I’ve always known how to turn a phrase
when it’s too late
it doesn’t matter what I do
it doesn’t matter what I say
it doesn’t matter if I turn up too late, it’s ok
if she’s not going to wait
-
The Singer (Angelskår)
You always keep me waiting
One foot out the door
and you refuse to let me know
Just who you are
And who you were
Before you took me on
You leave before I wake up
You text me when I call
And you refuse to let me know
Just where you are
And who you’re with
While I’m on my own
A little black cloud in a dress
A little black cloud in high heels
And though you’re showing me the steps
You never dance for me
But I’ll come back to you
Like I always do
I’ll come back to you
You ask me to be patient
But you don’t know what it means
To hold on to anything
I don’t why I let you do these things to me
As I watch you sleeping
I still wonder where you are
And who you dream about, tonight
If you’re alone, if you’re still stoned
If you remember why
but that song you so believe in
It should be in a different key
And those words you keep repeating
Is an apology
Saying: I’ll come back to you
Like I always do
I’ll come back to you
-
Lucy (Angelskår/Lyseid)
In the evening when the day goes down
Lucy leaves the city lights
stands and watches, with her coat pulled around,
how the neon hits the skies
sometimes she thinks she knows him
sometimes his outline’s just a blur
but he’s always there on her mind
she finds a window seat on the subway home
places her handbag by her feet
re-reads a message on her phone
a little something to keep him real
sometimes she thinks she sees him
hears the turnstile click behind a blur
as if he’s homebound just like her
sometimes she thinks she loves him
sometimes his outline’s just a blur
but he’s always there on her mind
all the changing faces passing through
they never bothered her at all
they’re just a backdrop that ties the light
into patterns on the wall
sometimes she thinks she hears him
when the handle turns on their front door
as if he’s there, like before
when you come back home
when you turn the key
is he still there with you?
Is he within reach?
-
Patricia (Angelskår /Lyseid)
Do you ever think of me up there
when you’re God knows where
with your eyes closed in front of the crowd?
Would you pull me up on stage if I
came to your show tonight?
Would you still get me high backstage?
Do I remember summer rain
that sweet metallic taste
the chemicals that made us stay awake?
I didn’t really get it then
but it struck my mind the other day:
I think you’re right about «the leaving»-part
but you’re wrong about «the running away»
I’m still working on the could-have-beens
of you and I, I mean
what if Patricia hadn’t chosen that night?
You told me once that if we ran away
and never spoke her name
then the world would fall back into place
but I rely on muscle memory
onstage wine and irony
if you somehow got the best of me
put it out there in when my recollection’s slow
I’m in the corner by the bar, tonight
you played a song of mine
with contorted chords and words shuffled around
me, I don’t mind you changing it
rearranging it
kinda like the way you’re slowing it down
your introduction it was eloquent
but you didn’t write that song on the road
sure, I agree with the sentiment
I’ll be waiting where the flightcases load
she lived right across the street from us
and her mum still wakes up insane
just to ask: will she back again?
Now, what am I supposed to say?
So we’ll be dining with the could-have-beens
you & I, I mean
and though our words need time to unfold
there are moments worth remembering
I hope you’re good at it
’cause there is so much I wish I didn’t know
and that’s why you’re not coming back
and that’s why I can never leave
but Patricia would have that loved that song
just the way you’re playing it to me
-
Another Year (Angelskår/Lyseid)
They were working together in the garden on a lazy, warm weekend
he was tending to the roses, when she noticed how his hair had thinned
Maybe it was just the thought of time
Half empty hour glasses they’re not granting us a second try
Suddenly the changes seemed so small
All her aspirations, all her dreams, felt like she’d spent them all
Good girl gone bad
Good girl gone bad
Good girl gone bad
Without a word
There was a time when all my dreams they seemed so feasible and real
It’s not that long ago but now I can’t recall just how it feels
Yesterday –«we» were all I knew
Painted in the present tense, I think in the terms of me and you
These fancies they tend to grow away
But don’t you ever get the feeling we‘re running out of days?
Good girl gone bad
Good girl gone bad
Good girl gone bad
you must have heard
They sat together on the grass and watched the evening sky grow dark
She asked him for a cigarette, and there and then laid bare her aching heart
«We’ll work it out», he said and pulled her close
She heard the pressure in her chest release a quiet: «I suppose»
Stuck between his jaws a trembling sound
He felt he had to ask: does this mean we’re on shaky ground?
Good love gone bad
Good love gone bad
Good love gone bad
I’m out of words
You always said: wait around for me
You always said: wait around for me
You always said you’d wait a while and see
You always said: wait around for me
I thought that things would sort themselves if I could only clear my head
It took another year of disappearing till I found home again
sometimes he still asks me if I’m true
So I found a way to answer him without having to tell the truth
Your mind it is a stranger, that’s the phrase he used
now I found a way to look at him, that won’t belie the words I choose:
«Good girl gone bad»
-
Napkin poetry (Angelskår / Lyseid)
I came to feel the lemonheads
Or whatever you wanted to feel
When Juliana played the bass guitar
And the smoke was too thick to breathe
they came on late, looking like they’d rather be at home
that was fashionable back then
Evan wore his favorite T that I recalled from posters on her wall
Some country dude from way back when
I knew she’d be there anyway
So I didn’t care to call
A few nervous drinks and then we headed back
To the posters on her wall
Two more weeks of school and then we’re off forever
You might have told me not to wait
I wrote napkin poetry on days skipping towards the summer
another leap of faith
Fall brings out the best in me
The cold resides inside my chest
When the leaves pile up in heaps around the trees
Then I am at my best
But no amount of calm can me forget what I want
Or the chances that I blew
So while I wait for winter and for darkness to arrive
I long for something new
I spin the record patiently
I like the fact it’s not too long
Juliana plays the bass guitar
And Evan still cares for his songs
So I write napkin poetry but never about her
Or the way we ought to be
Josephine she slipped into those summernights
but Alison’s still happening to me
-
I’ve been here before you (Angelskår)
Come to me with your silliest dream
Come to me when you’re hopeful
Come to me just to disagree
I’ll be at your disposal
Come to me right after she leaves
when it feels like you can’t make it past her
sweet summer girls they leave no guarantees
and they don’t always pick up to answer
And everybody knows
At one point you’ll expect me to show you how
Before you give the the dream a go
When it feels like you’re made for that rock’n’roll
Come to me when you’re down on your knees
And this world is more than you can handle
Come to me, let me know how it feels
Let’s see if we can find another angle
Feels like I should know
If you were right to expect just a little more
when you have to let her go
And no earthly reason seems good enough
I’ve been here before
I’ve been here before you
Come to me when you no longer believe
In all the things that I taught you
Come to me, let yourself in
Stay for as long as you want to
I've been here before you
-
It’s easier to sing (Angelskår)
I can make her listen in a song
I can make her keep her promises, right her every wrong
I can make her understand
But it’s the only way I can
I can make her call me at first light
And instead of saying: «sorry I just can’t make it tonight»
She’ll arrive on time
no distractions on her mind
This is what I do, honey
I don’t want to pick a fight
It’s just easier to sing
Than to wait for you to call me back, tonight
Other men, you’ll leave them all alone
Instead of listening to a heart that keeps proving you wrong
Time and time again
You’ve got to give it a chance to mend
I can make you love me in a song
I can make you keep your promises and regain some control
And though I can’t make it true
I might come across to you
No song is just a song, honey
it carries heart, it lends a hand
Cause it’s easier to sing
Than to wait around for you to understand
It’s just easier to sing
Than to wait for you to love me as I am