4.29.2003
SYSTEMS, LOVE AND CHILDHOOD
By Matt Johns
A human being is part of the Whole...He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest...a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. - Albert Einstein
All theory is gray, and the Golden tree of life is green.
- Goethe
Adults are just obsolete children.
- Dr. Seuss
This essay is my attempt to use what I've learned about the concepts of the title - systems, love and childhood - to help plot a cultural path towards valuing childhood in a deeply authentic way, the same authentic way that is a child's way of being in the world. In doing so I follow many people who have used their considerable talents to bring a centered wisdom to our Western traditions, a tradition that has championed the ego and the intellect to dizzying disproportion. People like cyberneticist Norbert Wiener, who warned people like me "the social sciences are a bad proving ground for the ideas of cybernetics." People like Fritjof Capra, who has said of our global social and environmental problems in The Web Of Life, "Ultimately these problems …derive from the fact that most of us, and especially our large social institutions, subscribe to an outdated worldview, a perception of reality inadequate for dealing with our interconnected world." And to people like Gregory Bateson, Joanna Macy, Linda Olds, and David Whyte.
But First Let's Start With A Real Child
Raimon Panikkar has said
"When I have a human being before me, it is the whole reality that is before me, and I must then reunite the vision of man to that of the divine and the cosmos… which is something for which we do not yet have an adequate language."
A child, a young boy, is before us. He is slim; he stands about 4 feet 8 inches. His hair is short in the style of young men today. Gustavo (not his name) looks you over warily, his eyes down, his head cocked to the side. It has been Gustavo's experience that human beings, at least the ones you love, are transitory, combustible, fragile. He has seen rage, madness, self-destruction and neglect. Physical abuse and emotional abuse. It's not something he disowns; it's part of the fabric of his life. Somehow, through some innate genius and the ability to see love even under deep camouflage, Gustavo has retained a hundred-watt smile, a mischievous playful streak, and an ability to love. He likes movies, McDonald's and basketball. But if he feels he is being picked on, he releases a rage that empties classrooms and intimidates foster parents.
When I am with Gustavo on a weekend outing, I am not thinking about systems theory and how it could provide an overarching metaphor that foregrounds and values relationship, that makes clear the interrelatedness of all beings. I'm just enjoying the connection between us. Love is the state of being human where we know we are connected and interrelated into a Whole. And even though part of our journey is through an intellectual understanding of what this Whole might be, we must not fail to understand the Goethe quote that introduces this essay. A theory is merely a path, and life surrounds it.
Living in connection means love is plentiful, ubiquitous, and if one person fails to love a child, ten more will take his place.
Systemic Causes
In my roles as high school science teacher and child advocate I see many teachers, parents, grandparents, foster parents and other caregivers doing wonderful jobs with young people, and in the larger picture I see poverty, drugs, violence and abuse take its toll. We're not sure how it got this bad when everybody seems to be doing the best they can. We blame ourselves but it's more likely the cause is systemic - based in the nature of the interrelationships of the parts of the system.
Whenever causes and effects are widely spread so that it is difficult to track what is creating what, it is a hint that you are dealing with a complex system. Let's start by admitting that systems scientists, despite advances over the past fifty years, are not able to describe systems as complex as an entire family system, let alone a social system. But systems theory has been able to describe the general characteristics of complex systems, and this information is full of poignant insights into both why these systems behave the way they do and why our efforts to produce effective change so often fail. Even with our love and our best efforts.
And what about love? How does love fit in with a highly abstract concept like systems theory? Why did I formulate the question the way I did? Perhaps it is just such abdications - that human love should fit into a theory - which has placed us in our current situation where technology leads and we follow. We seem strangely willing to surrender our decisions to the tools we have created while maintaining the illusion that we are in control. In the era of the emergence of AI, this is a dangerous time to feel less capable than our technology. Love is what children need as a basic staple, and so half the time, 75% of the time, or even 98% of the time is just not good enough. Even with our technology growing by leaps and bounds, it will probably be awhile before we build one that can really love.
What is systems theory?
First proposed in the 1940s by biologist Ludwig von Betalanffy, it is an attempt to correct the errors of reductionism, the scientific philosophy and procedure that said to understand something you break it down into its component parts and study the parts. The Principia Cybernetica Project defines systems theory as
"the transdisciplinary study of the abstract organization of phenomena, independent of heir substance, type, or spatial or temporal scale of existence. It investigates both the principles common to all complex entities, and the (usually mathematical) models which can be used to describe them. Systems theory focuses on the relationships between the parts that connect them into a whole. This particular organization determines a system, which is independent of the concrete substance of the parts (people, organs, cells, atoms, particles, etc.)
All complex systems exhibit five basic properties, which themselves are interrelated:
SYNERGY The whole is greater than the sum of the parts
NESTED HEIRARCHIES Individuals within families within communities, etc.
SELF-STABILIZATION Feedback loops help maintain system at a steady state
SELF-GENERATION Capacity of a system to reproduce itself
EQUIFINALITY Going toward an end state
Systems theory marked a turning of the tide in scientific thought. We had gone as far as we could go with analytical techniques and the vision of the cosmos as a large machine. We had created automation and designed corporations and factories to run like machines. We had designed huge beaurocracies that included hundreds of millions of people. Now our analytic science has led us to discoveries in physics, chemistry, biology and sociology that bring us back to thinking of ourselves and our world as a whole. Fritjof Capra writes, "The universe can no longer be seen as a machine, made up of a multitude of objects, but has to be pictured as one indivisible dynamic whole whose parts are essentially interrelated and can be understood only as patterns of cosmic processes."
Systems Thinking: Can It Help Children?
Systems thinking is putting these new concepts and metaphors to use in the way we think, feel and act in the world, in how we experience our lives and the lives of others. It is not the domain of scientists. Martin Luther King was a systems thinker when he wrote, "All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly, effects all indirectly." If we treat systems thinking as a purely intellectual endeavor, we will merely be replacing one theory with another, and no succor will result from our use of the words holistic, organic, ecological; on the contrary they will elicit pain and remind us of another betrayal. So while systems thinking might be an interesting idea for adults, nothing less than systems being will be of any interest to children and youth.
When we neglect or abuse a few children, it effects all children. We live in a delicate balance. A nation of systems beings would be able to find human ways to connect large numbers of humans in complex interaction without the pattern of oppression. They would be able to see the whole and the individual and would not try to suppress either. Adept systems beings would be able to shift their focus to different levels of the system and see where small actions at leverage points might bring beneficial balance and change.
Systems thinking by itself is not enough. Children really have no use for disembodied intellect. They sense that something essential has been stripped away from the human. And to really deliver on all the wonderful benefits systems thinking has been linked with - ecological wisdom to social harmony -it would be better to look deeper into our nature. The world children want is not an abstract world, it is not a theoretical world, but a diverse, richly textured world, a world of the body and senses and mind. It is the world we adults want also, but we may need children to lead us to it.
Children Are Authenticity Indicators
One area where children are our leaders is in their genius for authenticity. If we could let ourselves be guided by their reactions and intuitions to our inventions, we could avoid our upcoming impasse with technology. Children know how you feel about them, and they know how they feel about you. This has very real benefits. It brings out the truth, or at least encourages people drop the performance of the human. Children have a problem with not applying their values to what they do, something we do our best to socialize out of them. But if you really want to create a healthy, connected world, this becomes a huge asset. Children ask incessant, insightful questions about life, about our lives. We usually get angry with them when they hit a sore spot. We should be thanking them for pointing it out.
Currently we spend a lot of energy convincing children that their deepest intuitions are unrealistic and we get very serious about preparing them for the "real world" we have prepared for them. But if we are serious about making a better world, we have to change our relationship to childhood. In a world of interrelatedness, children are teachers as much as learners. And if we want to learn about childhood, we have experts in the house.
http://www.pendragonunlimited.com/BUTTERFLY/SYSTEMS%20-%20Matt%203.htm
By Matt Johns
A human being is part of the Whole...He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest...a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. - Albert Einstein
All theory is gray, and the Golden tree of life is green.
- Goethe
Adults are just obsolete children.
- Dr. Seuss
This essay is my attempt to use what I've learned about the concepts of the title - systems, love and childhood - to help plot a cultural path towards valuing childhood in a deeply authentic way, the same authentic way that is a child's way of being in the world. In doing so I follow many people who have used their considerable talents to bring a centered wisdom to our Western traditions, a tradition that has championed the ego and the intellect to dizzying disproportion. People like cyberneticist Norbert Wiener, who warned people like me "the social sciences are a bad proving ground for the ideas of cybernetics." People like Fritjof Capra, who has said of our global social and environmental problems in The Web Of Life, "Ultimately these problems …derive from the fact that most of us, and especially our large social institutions, subscribe to an outdated worldview, a perception of reality inadequate for dealing with our interconnected world." And to people like Gregory Bateson, Joanna Macy, Linda Olds, and David Whyte.
But First Let's Start With A Real Child
Raimon Panikkar has said
"When I have a human being before me, it is the whole reality that is before me, and I must then reunite the vision of man to that of the divine and the cosmos… which is something for which we do not yet have an adequate language."
A child, a young boy, is before us. He is slim; he stands about 4 feet 8 inches. His hair is short in the style of young men today. Gustavo (not his name) looks you over warily, his eyes down, his head cocked to the side. It has been Gustavo's experience that human beings, at least the ones you love, are transitory, combustible, fragile. He has seen rage, madness, self-destruction and neglect. Physical abuse and emotional abuse. It's not something he disowns; it's part of the fabric of his life. Somehow, through some innate genius and the ability to see love even under deep camouflage, Gustavo has retained a hundred-watt smile, a mischievous playful streak, and an ability to love. He likes movies, McDonald's and basketball. But if he feels he is being picked on, he releases a rage that empties classrooms and intimidates foster parents.
When I am with Gustavo on a weekend outing, I am not thinking about systems theory and how it could provide an overarching metaphor that foregrounds and values relationship, that makes clear the interrelatedness of all beings. I'm just enjoying the connection between us. Love is the state of being human where we know we are connected and interrelated into a Whole. And even though part of our journey is through an intellectual understanding of what this Whole might be, we must not fail to understand the Goethe quote that introduces this essay. A theory is merely a path, and life surrounds it.
Living in connection means love is plentiful, ubiquitous, and if one person fails to love a child, ten more will take his place.
Systemic Causes
In my roles as high school science teacher and child advocate I see many teachers, parents, grandparents, foster parents and other caregivers doing wonderful jobs with young people, and in the larger picture I see poverty, drugs, violence and abuse take its toll. We're not sure how it got this bad when everybody seems to be doing the best they can. We blame ourselves but it's more likely the cause is systemic - based in the nature of the interrelationships of the parts of the system.
Whenever causes and effects are widely spread so that it is difficult to track what is creating what, it is a hint that you are dealing with a complex system. Let's start by admitting that systems scientists, despite advances over the past fifty years, are not able to describe systems as complex as an entire family system, let alone a social system. But systems theory has been able to describe the general characteristics of complex systems, and this information is full of poignant insights into both why these systems behave the way they do and why our efforts to produce effective change so often fail. Even with our love and our best efforts.
And what about love? How does love fit in with a highly abstract concept like systems theory? Why did I formulate the question the way I did? Perhaps it is just such abdications - that human love should fit into a theory - which has placed us in our current situation where technology leads and we follow. We seem strangely willing to surrender our decisions to the tools we have created while maintaining the illusion that we are in control. In the era of the emergence of AI, this is a dangerous time to feel less capable than our technology. Love is what children need as a basic staple, and so half the time, 75% of the time, or even 98% of the time is just not good enough. Even with our technology growing by leaps and bounds, it will probably be awhile before we build one that can really love.
What is systems theory?
First proposed in the 1940s by biologist Ludwig von Betalanffy, it is an attempt to correct the errors of reductionism, the scientific philosophy and procedure that said to understand something you break it down into its component parts and study the parts. The Principia Cybernetica Project defines systems theory as
"the transdisciplinary study of the abstract organization of phenomena, independent of heir substance, type, or spatial or temporal scale of existence. It investigates both the principles common to all complex entities, and the (usually mathematical) models which can be used to describe them. Systems theory focuses on the relationships between the parts that connect them into a whole. This particular organization determines a system, which is independent of the concrete substance of the parts (people, organs, cells, atoms, particles, etc.)
All complex systems exhibit five basic properties, which themselves are interrelated:
SYNERGY The whole is greater than the sum of the parts
NESTED HEIRARCHIES Individuals within families within communities, etc.
SELF-STABILIZATION Feedback loops help maintain system at a steady state
SELF-GENERATION Capacity of a system to reproduce itself
EQUIFINALITY Going toward an end state
Systems theory marked a turning of the tide in scientific thought. We had gone as far as we could go with analytical techniques and the vision of the cosmos as a large machine. We had created automation and designed corporations and factories to run like machines. We had designed huge beaurocracies that included hundreds of millions of people. Now our analytic science has led us to discoveries in physics, chemistry, biology and sociology that bring us back to thinking of ourselves and our world as a whole. Fritjof Capra writes, "The universe can no longer be seen as a machine, made up of a multitude of objects, but has to be pictured as one indivisible dynamic whole whose parts are essentially interrelated and can be understood only as patterns of cosmic processes."
Systems Thinking: Can It Help Children?
Systems thinking is putting these new concepts and metaphors to use in the way we think, feel and act in the world, in how we experience our lives and the lives of others. It is not the domain of scientists. Martin Luther King was a systems thinker when he wrote, "All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly, effects all indirectly." If we treat systems thinking as a purely intellectual endeavor, we will merely be replacing one theory with another, and no succor will result from our use of the words holistic, organic, ecological; on the contrary they will elicit pain and remind us of another betrayal. So while systems thinking might be an interesting idea for adults, nothing less than systems being will be of any interest to children and youth.
When we neglect or abuse a few children, it effects all children. We live in a delicate balance. A nation of systems beings would be able to find human ways to connect large numbers of humans in complex interaction without the pattern of oppression. They would be able to see the whole and the individual and would not try to suppress either. Adept systems beings would be able to shift their focus to different levels of the system and see where small actions at leverage points might bring beneficial balance and change.
Systems thinking by itself is not enough. Children really have no use for disembodied intellect. They sense that something essential has been stripped away from the human. And to really deliver on all the wonderful benefits systems thinking has been linked with - ecological wisdom to social harmony -it would be better to look deeper into our nature. The world children want is not an abstract world, it is not a theoretical world, but a diverse, richly textured world, a world of the body and senses and mind. It is the world we adults want also, but we may need children to lead us to it.
Children Are Authenticity Indicators
One area where children are our leaders is in their genius for authenticity. If we could let ourselves be guided by their reactions and intuitions to our inventions, we could avoid our upcoming impasse with technology. Children know how you feel about them, and they know how they feel about you. This has very real benefits. It brings out the truth, or at least encourages people drop the performance of the human. Children have a problem with not applying their values to what they do, something we do our best to socialize out of them. But if you really want to create a healthy, connected world, this becomes a huge asset. Children ask incessant, insightful questions about life, about our lives. We usually get angry with them when they hit a sore spot. We should be thanking them for pointing it out.
Currently we spend a lot of energy convincing children that their deepest intuitions are unrealistic and we get very serious about preparing them for the "real world" we have prepared for them. But if we are serious about making a better world, we have to change our relationship to childhood. In a world of interrelatedness, children are teachers as much as learners. And if we want to learn about childhood, we have experts in the house.
http://www.pendragonunlimited.com/BUTTERFLY/SYSTEMS%20-%20Matt%203.htm
4.25.2003
No, I'm not keeping an online journal. I am simply sharing one moment of mad humaness for all my earthling brother and sisters because eventhough I am often soft spoken, jovial and outgoing I am all the while a transparient sensitive and must admit to these things to remain honest.
Oh. The horror! I'm still the dramatic me. I have tried to remain silent but I can't because there is this human element of drunkenness, hunger, and desire that I feel compelled to immediately convey to those that stalk me on the WWW.
I must tell you, now about everything!
I have drunk a bottle of wine while shopping online for groceries. I have smoked too many Dunhill International Light cigarettes (only because I am abstaining from chronic--I don't know why, I don't know why) and all of this was done while watching the PBS news. The fucking news. I have abstained from the news for years. I think the last time I watched the news was 9/11 for just 2 seconds--wait I'm mistaken, I did watch the news one morning in bed with my lover but that should not count as an aware moment of watching the news because in reality I was simply observing the natural state of the beast I was loving.
Anyway tonight that same love is away and I have reached a peak of desperate loneliness that I fear must be shared so others may know that this happens to all of us. We all become desperate and anxious over someone. Yet, I remain so detached it impresses me. Just yesterday I told wrote this love a letter that we should stop all this bliss he and I have shared so it will forever in our minds be remembered as bliss. He will recieve this letter tomorrow or Monday in his mail I'm certain he wll appreciate the sentiment and ignore all physical application of the told sentiment.
Not once, never in my existence have I not relished an affair as this golden one. This affair I want to remain perfect for all my days because it was the most sensual, honest, loving experience I have ever encountered. I think it takes much awareness for me to see that this romance has been an ideal dream come true and I must force myself awake before the inevitable occurs. The inevitable is that he and I will become lost and will have to face the challenge of finding ourselves again while remaining together and that is the challenge I am anxious regarding.
I am fine when I am lost if I am lost alone. But the humiliation of being lost and in love is something I am not prepared to participate in.
For all of you. I have learned one thing about love that is a lesson learned after much hardship. Please try to believe me that if you fall in love you will eventually become lost and the only success in love is the ability to find yourself while remaining in love.
That is all I have to give.
That is all I have to give.
Tomorrow is another day. I have work, play and the reality that a letter was sent in today’s mail declining everything I want. I decline everything I want because I am ashamed that someday I will be lost while being in love.
I hope these drunken rants make sense tomorrow because I won't delete them. They are out there forever so I always remember how much I was in love tonight. Tonight I had a love that was away and I missed him like a sailor misses the sea. My heart has known such bloody richness. I am amazed that I am still without wrinkles at 27. This day next week I will be 28. I am amazed at the youth of my years. I am amazed at the lengths I have expanded in love.
I'm so in love.
That is why I smoke cigarettes--suicidal tendencies.
Shit. Even James Hollan can’t come out to play to save me. Some planetary alignment is going on affecting an entire breed of humans. I'm going to call James. No. Yes. Should one ought to call a hard working man when one is so sincerely off her rocker as I, tonight?
Shit. Cigarette just don't do the trick. My sweet James has a bed calling his name. I like the visual of it. I like the visual of it. It calms me. It calls me to my bed. Rest assured that sleep is healing. Sleep well.
Oh. The horror! I'm still the dramatic me. I have tried to remain silent but I can't because there is this human element of drunkenness, hunger, and desire that I feel compelled to immediately convey to those that stalk me on the WWW.
I must tell you, now about everything!
I have drunk a bottle of wine while shopping online for groceries. I have smoked too many Dunhill International Light cigarettes (only because I am abstaining from chronic--I don't know why, I don't know why) and all of this was done while watching the PBS news. The fucking news. I have abstained from the news for years. I think the last time I watched the news was 9/11 for just 2 seconds--wait I'm mistaken, I did watch the news one morning in bed with my lover but that should not count as an aware moment of watching the news because in reality I was simply observing the natural state of the beast I was loving.
Anyway tonight that same love is away and I have reached a peak of desperate loneliness that I fear must be shared so others may know that this happens to all of us. We all become desperate and anxious over someone. Yet, I remain so detached it impresses me. Just yesterday I told wrote this love a letter that we should stop all this bliss he and I have shared so it will forever in our minds be remembered as bliss. He will recieve this letter tomorrow or Monday in his mail I'm certain he wll appreciate the sentiment and ignore all physical application of the told sentiment.
Not once, never in my existence have I not relished an affair as this golden one. This affair I want to remain perfect for all my days because it was the most sensual, honest, loving experience I have ever encountered. I think it takes much awareness for me to see that this romance has been an ideal dream come true and I must force myself awake before the inevitable occurs. The inevitable is that he and I will become lost and will have to face the challenge of finding ourselves again while remaining together and that is the challenge I am anxious regarding.
I am fine when I am lost if I am lost alone. But the humiliation of being lost and in love is something I am not prepared to participate in.
For all of you. I have learned one thing about love that is a lesson learned after much hardship. Please try to believe me that if you fall in love you will eventually become lost and the only success in love is the ability to find yourself while remaining in love.
That is all I have to give.
That is all I have to give.
Tomorrow is another day. I have work, play and the reality that a letter was sent in today’s mail declining everything I want. I decline everything I want because I am ashamed that someday I will be lost while being in love.
I hope these drunken rants make sense tomorrow because I won't delete them. They are out there forever so I always remember how much I was in love tonight. Tonight I had a love that was away and I missed him like a sailor misses the sea. My heart has known such bloody richness. I am amazed that I am still without wrinkles at 27. This day next week I will be 28. I am amazed at the youth of my years. I am amazed at the lengths I have expanded in love.
I'm so in love.
That is why I smoke cigarettes--suicidal tendencies.
Shit. Even James Hollan can’t come out to play to save me. Some planetary alignment is going on affecting an entire breed of humans. I'm going to call James. No. Yes. Should one ought to call a hard working man when one is so sincerely off her rocker as I, tonight?
Shit. Cigarette just don't do the trick. My sweet James has a bed calling his name. I like the visual of it. I like the visual of it. It calms me. It calls me to my bed. Rest assured that sleep is healing. Sleep well.
4.23.2003
A PRETTY GIRL IS LIKE...
from 69 Love Songs
by the Magnetic Fields
A pretty girl is like a minstrel show
It makes you laugh
It makes you cry
You go
It just isn't the same on radio
It's all about the makeup and the dancing
and the Oh,
a pretty girl is like a violent crime
If you do it wrong
you could do time
but if you do it right it is sublime
I'm
so in love with you, girl,
It's like I'm on the moon
I can't really breathe, but I feel lighter
A melody is like
a pretty girl
Who cares if it's the dumbest in the world
It's all about the way that it
unfurls
A pretty girl is like
a pretty girl
from 69 Love Songs
by the Magnetic Fields
A pretty girl is like a minstrel show
It makes you laugh
It makes you cry
You go
It just isn't the same on radio
It's all about the makeup and the dancing
and the Oh,
a pretty girl is like a violent crime
If you do it wrong
you could do time
but if you do it right it is sublime
I'm
so in love with you, girl,
It's like I'm on the moon
I can't really breathe, but I feel lighter
A melody is like
a pretty girl
Who cares if it's the dumbest in the world
It's all about the way that it
unfurls
A pretty girl is like
a pretty girl
HOW FUCKING ROMANTIC
from 69 Love Songs
by the Magnetic Fields
How fucking romantic All the stars are out twinkling twinkling twinkling
and fluttering about What a tacky sunset What a vulgar moon
Play another charming Rodgers & Hart tune How fucking romantic
Must we really waltz Drag another cliche howling from the vaults
Love you, obviously, like you really care, even though you treat me
like a dancing bear Toss your bear a goldfish as it cycles by
Don't forget to feed your bear or it'll die
from 69 Love Songs
by the Magnetic Fields
How fucking romantic All the stars are out twinkling twinkling twinkling
and fluttering about What a tacky sunset What a vulgar moon
Play another charming Rodgers & Hart tune How fucking romantic
Must we really waltz Drag another cliche howling from the vaults
Love you, obviously, like you really care, even though you treat me
like a dancing bear Toss your bear a goldfish as it cycles by
Don't forget to feed your bear or it'll die
THE BOOK OF LOVE
from 69 Love Songs
by the Magnetic Fields
The book of love is long and boring No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts and figures and instructions for dancing
but I I love it when you read to me and you you can read me anything
The book of love has music in it In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental Some of it is just really dumb but I
I love it when you sing to me and you you can sing me anything
The book of love is long and boring and written very long ago
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes and things we're all
too young to know but I I love it when you give me things and you
you ought to give me wedding rings I I love it when you give me things
and you you ought to give me wedding rings
from 69 Love Songs
by the Magnetic Fields
The book of love is long and boring No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts and figures and instructions for dancing
but I I love it when you read to me and you you can read me anything
The book of love has music in it In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental Some of it is just really dumb but I
I love it when you sing to me and you you can sing me anything
The book of love is long and boring and written very long ago
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes and things we're all
too young to know but I I love it when you give me things and you
you ought to give me wedding rings I I love it when you give me things
and you you ought to give me wedding rings
4.20.2003
My Baby Just Cares for Me
(1928) Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson
My baby don't care for shows
My baby don't care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Lana Turner's smile
Is somethin' he can't see
My baby don't care who knows
My baby just cares for me
Baby, my baby don't care for shows
And he don't even care for clothes
He cares for me
My baby don't care
For cars and races
My baby don't care for
He don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Liberace's smile
Is something he can't see
Is something he can't see
I wonder what's wrong with baby
My baby just cares for
My baby just cares for
My baby just cares for me
Original lyrics
My baby don't care for shows
My baby don't care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Lana Turner's smile
is somethin' he can't see
My baby don't care who knows it
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for shows
And he don't even care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for
he don't care for high-tone places
I wonder what's wrong with baby
My baby just cares for
Just says his prayers for
My baby just cares for me
(1928) Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson
My baby don't care for shows
My baby don't care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Lana Turner's smile
Is somethin' he can't see
My baby don't care who knows
My baby just cares for me
Baby, my baby don't care for shows
And he don't even care for clothes
He cares for me
My baby don't care
For cars and races
My baby don't care for
He don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Liberace's smile
Is something he can't see
Is something he can't see
I wonder what's wrong with baby
My baby just cares for
My baby just cares for
My baby just cares for me
Original lyrics
My baby don't care for shows
My baby don't care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for high-tone places
Liz Taylor is not his style
And even Lana Turner's smile
is somethin' he can't see
My baby don't care who knows it
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for shows
And he don't even care for clothes
My baby just cares for me
My baby don't care for cars and races
My baby don't care for
he don't care for high-tone places
I wonder what's wrong with baby
My baby just cares for
Just says his prayers for
My baby just cares for me
4.17.2003
THE ROOTS (f/ Music Soulchild) LYRICS
Break You Off
[Chorus x2: Musiq]
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
Yeah Baby
[Verse One: Black Thought]
Bad Misses, Throwin raspberry kisses on me
You looking for directions?
Girl I feel your vision on me
Just dont let him see you sweat
and we aint spose to be involved
Knowing when we get it off, Girl I mean it off
Keeping you fiending 'til you taking it tossed
And when I'm breaking it off
Its no denying the fact it's wrong
'Cause you got a man who's probably playing his part
You probably breaking his heart
He trying to figure the reason, Uh
Is it because he's superficial
Or is he too submissive
Or did I come along and hit you with the futuristic
Or is it 'cause you really couldnt see a future with him
All he about is paper, never took the time with you to listen
You want it gripped up, flipped, and thrown
And get stripped and shown, the way the getting is on
The cost, dealing with this you only taking a loss
You need to leave him alone
And go with the one who breaking you off
[Chorus x2: Musiq]
Off...
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
Yeah Baby
[Verse Two: Black Thought]
Rolling down the highway
Listening to Sade sing
"The way the smooth operator move my way"
You sitting beside me
Looking like Friday Foster
Pam Grier structure look at your body
Keep eachother thristy
Kisses like hershey
But lips is sealed
'Cause we dont need the controversy
I say I'm in town, You say you want it in the worst way
You probably told your man it was your it was ya lil's birthday
Meanwhile, Its champagne chilling in ice
You ready for the freakiest stage you done in ya life?
We breakin down like we grove dogs pulling a hike
You making sounds like a vive ;got you reaching your height
Prepare for flight, this is your captain
I'm getting strapped in
Theres no denying the strength
That its attraction girl
Workin with this you won't be taking a loss
So stop fooling your man and roll with the one
Who's breaking you off
(beat started)
[Bridge: Musiq]
Baby, Baby, Baby... don't you want me 'round
Nothing 'cause I'm coming too, and do you know..
Whenever you want, that thing you need, I got it
I'm there and I aim to please
I'm coming over to give it to you..
Baby.. baby..
[Chorus x2: Musiq]
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
Yeah Baby
Break You Off
[Chorus x2: Musiq]
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
Yeah Baby
[Verse One: Black Thought]
Bad Misses, Throwin raspberry kisses on me
You looking for directions?
Girl I feel your vision on me
Just dont let him see you sweat
and we aint spose to be involved
Knowing when we get it off, Girl I mean it off
Keeping you fiending 'til you taking it tossed
And when I'm breaking it off
Its no denying the fact it's wrong
'Cause you got a man who's probably playing his part
You probably breaking his heart
He trying to figure the reason, Uh
Is it because he's superficial
Or is he too submissive
Or did I come along and hit you with the futuristic
Or is it 'cause you really couldnt see a future with him
All he about is paper, never took the time with you to listen
You want it gripped up, flipped, and thrown
And get stripped and shown, the way the getting is on
The cost, dealing with this you only taking a loss
You need to leave him alone
And go with the one who breaking you off
[Chorus x2: Musiq]
Off...
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
Yeah Baby
[Verse Two: Black Thought]
Rolling down the highway
Listening to Sade sing
"The way the smooth operator move my way"
You sitting beside me
Looking like Friday Foster
Pam Grier structure look at your body
Keep eachother thristy
Kisses like hershey
But lips is sealed
'Cause we dont need the controversy
I say I'm in town, You say you want it in the worst way
You probably told your man it was your it was ya lil's birthday
Meanwhile, Its champagne chilling in ice
You ready for the freakiest stage you done in ya life?
We breakin down like we grove dogs pulling a hike
You making sounds like a vive ;got you reaching your height
Prepare for flight, this is your captain
I'm getting strapped in
Theres no denying the strength
That its attraction girl
Workin with this you won't be taking a loss
So stop fooling your man and roll with the one
Who's breaking you off
(beat started)
[Bridge: Musiq]
Baby, Baby, Baby... don't you want me 'round
Nothing 'cause I'm coming too, and do you know..
Whenever you want, that thing you need, I got it
I'm there and I aim to please
I'm coming over to give it to you..
Baby.. baby..
[Chorus x2: Musiq]
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
I'm coming to break you off (get the beat started......start-started)
Yeah Baby
4.16.2003
Carol Kane really does talk like that. She was in the Library for hours today talking squeeky and deep and high within one breath. She's so cool. I'm glad I got to speak to her.
Smother Love
by Crass
The true romance is the ideal repression
That you seek, that you dream of, that you look for in the streets
That you find in the magazines, the cinema, the glossy shops
And the music spins you round and round looking for the props
The silken robe, the perfect little ring
Will give you the illusion when it doesn't mean a thing
Step outside into the street and staring from the wall
Is perfection of the happiness that makes you feel so small
Romance, can you dance? D'you fit the right description?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you want me for your own?
Do you love me, say you need me
So you know that I'm the one
Tell me I'm your everything, let us build a home
We can build a house for two, with little ones to follow
The proof of our normality that justifies tomorrow
Romance, romance
Do you love me? Say you do
We can leave the world behind and make it just for two
Love don't make the world go round, it holds it right in place
Keeps us thinking love's too pure to see another face
Love's another skin-trap, another social weapon
Another way to make men slaves and women at their beckon
Love's another sterile gift, another shit condition
That keeps us seeing just the one and others not existing
Woman in a holy myth, a gift of mans expression
She's sweet, defenceless, golden-eyed, a gift of gods repression
If we didn't have these codes for love, of tokens and positions
We'd find ourselves as lovers still, not tokens of possessions
It's a natural, it's a romance, without the power and greed
We can fight to life the cover if you want to sow a seed
Do you love me? Do you? Do you? Don't you see they aim to smother
The actual possibilities of seeing all the others?
by Crass
The true romance is the ideal repression
That you seek, that you dream of, that you look for in the streets
That you find in the magazines, the cinema, the glossy shops
And the music spins you round and round looking for the props
The silken robe, the perfect little ring
Will give you the illusion when it doesn't mean a thing
Step outside into the street and staring from the wall
Is perfection of the happiness that makes you feel so small
Romance, can you dance? D'you fit the right description?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you want me for your own?
Do you love me, say you need me
So you know that I'm the one
Tell me I'm your everything, let us build a home
We can build a house for two, with little ones to follow
The proof of our normality that justifies tomorrow
Romance, romance
Do you love me? Say you do
We can leave the world behind and make it just for two
Love don't make the world go round, it holds it right in place
Keeps us thinking love's too pure to see another face
Love's another skin-trap, another social weapon
Another way to make men slaves and women at their beckon
Love's another sterile gift, another shit condition
That keeps us seeing just the one and others not existing
Woman in a holy myth, a gift of mans expression
She's sweet, defenceless, golden-eyed, a gift of gods repression
If we didn't have these codes for love, of tokens and positions
We'd find ourselves as lovers still, not tokens of possessions
It's a natural, it's a romance, without the power and greed
We can fight to life the cover if you want to sow a seed
Do you love me? Do you? Do you? Don't you see they aim to smother
The actual possibilities of seeing all the others?
4.10.2003
is that a rifle when it rains?
by gastr del sol
from crookt, crackt, or fly
this is not a megaphone
please be precise
i am
i was
where is it coffee time?
is it between eastern & central?
help me:
i don't know who to blame for car alarms
i can't recall
i could not tell you
if this is a rifle when it
rains
mud man in the papers again
that's an umbrella trained on me
from across the street
no i can read tho not from here
by gastr del sol
from crookt, crackt, or fly
this is not a megaphone
please be precise
i am
i was
where is it coffee time?
is it between eastern & central?
help me:
i don't know who to blame for car alarms
i can't recall
i could not tell you
if this is a rifle when it
rains
mud man in the papers again
that's an umbrella trained on me
from across the street
no i can read tho not from here
4.09.2003
It's snowing in Chicago! It is 80 degrees here in Hollywood. I'm wearing linen and denim and dresses and strappy Italian snake skin sandals. I wish all my friends in Chicago Illinois would move out here. It would be fun. We could have sex in the sunshine. It's snowing there, right now. Snow! Crazy stuff!
4.06.2003
Who Told You I Cared?
who told you i cared?
who told you my secret
a secret i've held
in the depth of my heart
for years
who told you i cared?
who saw us together
we met in a dream
in a dream where
your visions appear
though i know it isnt right
we keep meeting ever night
and your kisses make me feel
that my dreams are oh so real
who told you i cared
who broke the enchantment
i ask you to tell me
who dared to tell you i care
who told you i cared?
who told you my secret
a secret i've held
in the depth of my heart
for years
who told you i cared?
who saw us together
we met in a dream
in a dream where
your visions appear
though i know it isnt right
we keep meeting ever night
and your kisses make me feel
that my dreams are oh so real
who told you i cared
who broke the enchantment
i ask you to tell me
who dared to tell you i care
4.05.2003
Spirit
by Bauhaus
tonight i could be with you
or waiting in the wings
lift your heart with soaring song
cut down the puppet strings
cut down the puppet strings
i wear a coat of drums
and dance upon your eyes
turn the tables upside down
change the lows to highs
change the lows to highs
i fill you up with butterflies
crown the heads of kings
be glad of first night nerves
for fear gives courage wings
fear gives courage wings
if i am on the sidelines
chances are you'll miss
wait alone and spotlit
for doctor theater's kiss
the stage becomes a ship in flames
i tie you to the mast
throw your body overboard
the spotlight doesn't last
the spotlight doesn't last
i could be with you
or waiting in the wings
lift your heart with soaring song
cut down the puppet strings
cut down the puppet strings
i may tap you on the shoulder
and whisper 'go' in red
strip your feet of lead my friend
strip your feet of lead
call the curtain
raise the roof
spirits on tonight
we love our audience
by Bauhaus
tonight i could be with you
or waiting in the wings
lift your heart with soaring song
cut down the puppet strings
cut down the puppet strings
i wear a coat of drums
and dance upon your eyes
turn the tables upside down
change the lows to highs
change the lows to highs
i fill you up with butterflies
crown the heads of kings
be glad of first night nerves
for fear gives courage wings
fear gives courage wings
if i am on the sidelines
chances are you'll miss
wait alone and spotlit
for doctor theater's kiss
the stage becomes a ship in flames
i tie you to the mast
throw your body overboard
the spotlight doesn't last
the spotlight doesn't last
i could be with you
or waiting in the wings
lift your heart with soaring song
cut down the puppet strings
cut down the puppet strings
i may tap you on the shoulder
and whisper 'go' in red
strip your feet of lead my friend
strip your feet of lead
call the curtain
raise the roof
spirits on tonight
we love our audience
I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
Lyrics by: Ned Washington
Never thought I'd fall,
But now I hear love call,
I'm getting sentimental over you.
Things you say and do,
Just thrill me through and through,
I'm getting sentimental over you.
I thought I was happy,
I could live without love
Now I must admit,
Love is all I'm thinking of
Won't you please be kind,
And just make up your mind
That you'll be sweet & gentle,
Be gentle with me
Because I'm sentimental over you
Lyrics by: Ned Washington
Never thought I'd fall,
But now I hear love call,
I'm getting sentimental over you.
Things you say and do,
Just thrill me through and through,
I'm getting sentimental over you.
I thought I was happy,
I could live without love
Now I must admit,
Love is all I'm thinking of
Won't you please be kind,
And just make up your mind
That you'll be sweet & gentle,
Be gentle with me
Because I'm sentimental over you
YOU'RE A LUCKY GUY
Sammy Cahn / Saul Chaplin
You're a lucky guy when you consider
The highest bidder can't buy
The gleam in your eyes
You're a lucky guy
Thank you lucky stars
You've got a honey who wants no money
She'll take you just as you are
Thank you lucky stars
Hey fellow, say fellow
Don't you realise it's fated, you rated
Open up your eyes
You're lucky guy
You're just beginning so have your inning
And let your troubles boom by
No one can deny you're a lucky guy
Hey fellow, say fellow
Look at Mr. Jones
He's there and he's staring
Even he must know
You're a lucky guy
So why not treasure your highest pleasure
And live right up till you die
No one can deny boy
You're a lucky guy
Sammy Cahn / Saul Chaplin
You're a lucky guy when you consider
The highest bidder can't buy
The gleam in your eyes
You're a lucky guy
Thank you lucky stars
You've got a honey who wants no money
She'll take you just as you are
Thank you lucky stars
Hey fellow, say fellow
Don't you realise it's fated, you rated
Open up your eyes
You're lucky guy
You're just beginning so have your inning
And let your troubles boom by
No one can deny you're a lucky guy
Hey fellow, say fellow
Look at Mr. Jones
He's there and he's staring
Even he must know
You're a lucky guy
So why not treasure your highest pleasure
And live right up till you die
No one can deny boy
You're a lucky guy
Roy Eldridge
Powered by Grove’s Dictionaries, Inc.
David (Roy) Eldridge; Little Jazz (1911-1989) Trumpeter Brother of Joe Eldridge
Roy Eldridge played professionally from the age of 16, first with a touring carnival (where he imitated Coleman Hawkins' well-known tenor saxophone solo in Stampede) and later with obscure Midwestern bands. In 1930 he moved to New York and played in various dance bands in Harlem, including that of Teddy Hill; in 1932 he began a serious study of Louis Armstrong's style. From 1933 he worked in Pittsburgh and then in Baltimore before returning to New York, where his first recorded solos with Hill in 1935 immediately attracted attention; later that year he joined Fletcher Henderson's orchestra as head trumpeter and occasional singer.
In autumn 1936 he formed his own eight-piece band in Chicago with his older brother Joe Eldridge as saxophonist and arranger; the group broadcast nightly, and Eldridge took advantage of his position as leader to record several outstanding extended solos, including After You've Gone and Wabash Stomp. After a brief period studying radio engineering in 1938 Eldridge formed a ten-piece band, which the following year began a residency in New York at the Arcadia Ballroom and later at Kelly's Stable.
By this time Eldridge was widely regarded as the outstanding jazz trumpet soloist of his time, and he began to receive liberal offers from white swing bands. In 1941 he joined Gene Krupa, becoming one of the first black jazz musicians to be accepted as a permanent member of the brass section of a white big band. While with Krupa he recorded his celebrated ballad performance of Rockin' Chair and became a nationwide celebrity, particularly in a novelty hit, Let Me Off Up Town, with Anita O'Day. When Krupa's band broke up in 1943, Eldridge played as a freelancer and led his own band in New York for a while before taking a position in Artie Shaw's band in 1944. A year later, after many racial incidents had occurred while the band was on tour, he left Shaw to organize a big band of his own. Like most large jazz ensembles at this time, his group was financially unsuccessful, and Eldridge soon reverted to small group work. In 1948 he began a long association with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic.
Although in the early 1940s Eldridge had taken a leading part in the jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in New York, which later crystallized in bop, he was out of sympathy with that style, and by the late 1940s his music was considered old-fashioned. In a crisis of confidence he moved to Paris in 1950 while on tour with Benny Goodman. During his year in Paris he was lionized by the French jazz public, and made some of his finest recordings, including a version of Fireworks in a duo with Claude Bolling in which the two men reworked the ideas shared by Armstrong and Earl Hines in their recording of the same title (1928). After returning to the USA in April 1951 he joined the burgeoning mainstream jazz movement, performing in small groups with Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, Ella Fitzgerald (1963-5), and, notably, Coleman Hawkins, with whom he made several outstanding albums for Verve. From 1970 until 1980, when he was incapacitated by a stroke, he led a traditional group at Ryan's in New York. Thereafter he performed occasionally as a singer, drummer, and surprisingly competent pianist.
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Macmillan Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. For personal, non-commercial use only. Copying or other reproduction is prohibited.
Powered by Grove’s Dictionaries, Inc.
David (Roy) Eldridge; Little Jazz (1911-1989) Trumpeter Brother of Joe Eldridge
Roy Eldridge played professionally from the age of 16, first with a touring carnival (where he imitated Coleman Hawkins' well-known tenor saxophone solo in Stampede) and later with obscure Midwestern bands. In 1930 he moved to New York and played in various dance bands in Harlem, including that of Teddy Hill; in 1932 he began a serious study of Louis Armstrong's style. From 1933 he worked in Pittsburgh and then in Baltimore before returning to New York, where his first recorded solos with Hill in 1935 immediately attracted attention; later that year he joined Fletcher Henderson's orchestra as head trumpeter and occasional singer.
In autumn 1936 he formed his own eight-piece band in Chicago with his older brother Joe Eldridge as saxophonist and arranger; the group broadcast nightly, and Eldridge took advantage of his position as leader to record several outstanding extended solos, including After You've Gone and Wabash Stomp. After a brief period studying radio engineering in 1938 Eldridge formed a ten-piece band, which the following year began a residency in New York at the Arcadia Ballroom and later at Kelly's Stable.
By this time Eldridge was widely regarded as the outstanding jazz trumpet soloist of his time, and he began to receive liberal offers from white swing bands. In 1941 he joined Gene Krupa, becoming one of the first black jazz musicians to be accepted as a permanent member of the brass section of a white big band. While with Krupa he recorded his celebrated ballad performance of Rockin' Chair and became a nationwide celebrity, particularly in a novelty hit, Let Me Off Up Town, with Anita O'Day. When Krupa's band broke up in 1943, Eldridge played as a freelancer and led his own band in New York for a while before taking a position in Artie Shaw's band in 1944. A year later, after many racial incidents had occurred while the band was on tour, he left Shaw to organize a big band of his own. Like most large jazz ensembles at this time, his group was financially unsuccessful, and Eldridge soon reverted to small group work. In 1948 he began a long association with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic.
Although in the early 1940s Eldridge had taken a leading part in the jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in New York, which later crystallized in bop, he was out of sympathy with that style, and by the late 1940s his music was considered old-fashioned. In a crisis of confidence he moved to Paris in 1950 while on tour with Benny Goodman. During his year in Paris he was lionized by the French jazz public, and made some of his finest recordings, including a version of Fireworks in a duo with Claude Bolling in which the two men reworked the ideas shared by Armstrong and Earl Hines in their recording of the same title (1928). After returning to the USA in April 1951 he joined the burgeoning mainstream jazz movement, performing in small groups with Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, Ella Fitzgerald (1963-5), and, notably, Coleman Hawkins, with whom he made several outstanding albums for Verve. From 1970 until 1980, when he was incapacitated by a stroke, he led a traditional group at Ryan's in New York. Thereafter he performed occasionally as a singer, drummer, and surprisingly competent pianist.
The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Macmillan Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. For personal, non-commercial use only. Copying or other reproduction is prohibited.
Approching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)
Instrumental
Instrumental
...the drugs don't always work.
4.04.2003
Jim O'Rourke
Halfway to a Threeway
I used to have none
Now with you, I've got one
If I could get just one more
Then you know what you're in for
You ain't getting any sleep tonight
I hope that you girls don't fight
And I hope that you won't run away
'Cause I’m halfway to a threeway
I tried again and again
To indulge in just one sin
All you have to do is lie there
While I push aside your wheelchair
And I do everything it takes
To change your mind and apply your brakes
So I know that you can't roll away
'Cause I’m halfway to a threeway
Can't wipe the smile off my face
When you strut by in your leg brace
You just can't climb the stairs
And you ain't got any hair
I just can't get you to sit
You and your stupid epileptic fits
And I know that you can't run away
'Cause I’m halfway to a threeway
As I lay you down on my bed
It don't matter that you're brain dead
I can get so you close to ya
Now that you're in a coma
I'll make it sweet but short
When I pull out your life support
And I know that you'll just fade away
Now I'm halfway to a threeway
And I know that you'll just fade away
Now I'm halfway to a threeway
Halfway to a Threeway
I used to have none
Now with you, I've got one
If I could get just one more
Then you know what you're in for
You ain't getting any sleep tonight
I hope that you girls don't fight
And I hope that you won't run away
'Cause I’m halfway to a threeway
I tried again and again
To indulge in just one sin
All you have to do is lie there
While I push aside your wheelchair
And I do everything it takes
To change your mind and apply your brakes
So I know that you can't roll away
'Cause I’m halfway to a threeway
Can't wipe the smile off my face
When you strut by in your leg brace
You just can't climb the stairs
And you ain't got any hair
I just can't get you to sit
You and your stupid epileptic fits
And I know that you can't run away
'Cause I’m halfway to a threeway
As I lay you down on my bed
It don't matter that you're brain dead
I can get so you close to ya
Now that you're in a coma
I'll make it sweet but short
When I pull out your life support
And I know that you'll just fade away
Now I'm halfway to a threeway
And I know that you'll just fade away
Now I'm halfway to a threeway
4.01.2003
california
from the wedding present
the album is hit parade
California
Let's go to California now
We've got to cross this great big world somehow
Don't say "no"
We must go
You're scared you'll make some big mistake, but I forgive you
This is a risk you have to take, and I'll be with you
And I'll hold you
I told you
Leave all your cares and fears behind
There should be one thing on your mind
Don't say "no"
We must go
Don't put any clothes back on
That's just how
I'll remember this day when we've gone
But right now...
That's just the weirdest thing I've ever heard
Oh but I'm ready, just say the word
And I'll hold you
I told you
Anything you want to do
I just know
That I'll want to do it too
But we must go
Anything you want to do
I just know
That I'll want to do it too
But we must go
from the wedding present
the album is hit parade
California
Let's go to California now
We've got to cross this great big world somehow
Don't say "no"
We must go
You're scared you'll make some big mistake, but I forgive you
This is a risk you have to take, and I'll be with you
And I'll hold you
I told you
Leave all your cares and fears behind
There should be one thing on your mind
Don't say "no"
We must go
Don't put any clothes back on
That's just how
I'll remember this day when we've gone
But right now...
That's just the weirdest thing I've ever heard
Oh but I'm ready, just say the word
And I'll hold you
I told you
Anything you want to do
I just know
That I'll want to do it too
But we must go
Anything you want to do
I just know
That I'll want to do it too
But we must go
