THE PEACE DIVIDEND (12)

Lungs

Howl

Lyrics and vocals by Dessa
Music by Dessa, Lazerbeak, and Andy Thompson
Cello by Dan Lawonn
Violin by Andy Thompson

Chime

Velodrome

Dessa "Velodrome"

new DESSA 
album CHIME
in stores 2.23.18
pre-order: http://smarturl.it/DessaChime

Lyrics and vocals by Dessa
Music by Andy Thompson
Additional production by Lazerbeak

LYRICS

I’ve been Wendy
living with the Lost Boys
youth spent as a deckhand on the convoy
moved every night to prove we were something
got confused if it was from or to that we were running. 
I've seen Gibraltar
I’ve seen the Taj Mahal
Soweto, Hagia Sophia 
Chefchaouen paints their walls blue
I’ve played to full rooms
I’ve played the fool too 
burning through the bottoms of a pair of new boots
Cut my hair
tape my tits down 
A woman on her own must be from out of town
funny, you don’t know the concessions that you’re making until you catalog em
and by then they’re many and you’re battle-hardened. 
Heat makes liquid of the asphalt 
keepsakes and parking tickets on the dashboard 
I'm here to file my report as the vixen of the wolf pack; 
tell Patient Zero, he can have his rib back. 

Chorus
You can count my ribs
Wanna know what class I’m in—
Count my,
You can count my ribs. 

You can’t be too broke to break
as a woman
Always something left to take 
so you shouldn't  
try to stay too late or talk to strangers
look too long, go too far out of range cause
angels can’t watch everybody all the time
stay close, hems low, safe inside;
that formula works if you can live it 
but it works by putting half the world off limits. 

Chorus

We don’t say, Go out and be brave
nah, we say Be careful, stay safe 
in any given instance, that don't hurt
but it sinks in like stilettos in soft earth,
like the big win is a day without an incident 
I beg to differ with it
I think a woman’s worth
I think that she deserves 
a better line of work 
than motherfucking vigilance.
Don’t give me vigilance
by definition 
you can’t make a difference 
if the big ambition 
is simply standing sentry to your innocence  
that’s not a way to live 
that can’t be what a woman is
that gives her nothing to aspire to.
What that is—
what that is
is just a life of running fire drills. 

We’re runnin fire drills.

Dessa "Velodrome"

Doomtree