Artwork by Vladimir Kush

Written 18 years ago.... is what I'll say in ten years.

I’ve been an addict all my life long
to games I can’t win and puzzles I can’t solve
It’s been some kind of sick fascination
to find myself in impossible situations 
-
and this one is one of those
I’m a deep sea fish reaching for a desert rose
I’m a parking lot, hoping that a garden grows
I’m me and you’re you and my only way through is to divide by zero

you don’t like me much but I promise you this
if you knew me better you’d like me even less
If you could see what goes on in my thoughts
I think you’d personally lead the firing squad

but even though I wouldn’t agree
I’m so flawed, I’d assume I deserve it for something
this song just needs to be worthy of suffering 
I just want you to want something you can’t get anywhere except from me

It puts me out of sorts, but I think you’re my twin
and I ought to sue you for copyright infringement
but i’m sure at the court you’d have this winning defense:
my best is your ground floor, you do all I do and more, you’re improved at the core, so I’d best be out the door, with my obsolescence 
-
but you don’t know the thing you’ve offered
for a minute my sadness has an object
before this it hung shapeless as fog upon me
Now it’s fenced in a daydream that I can keep and smother by slow degrees
(And I guess you'd call that "sorrow laundering")

so even if it’s been in your mind
and even if there were enough time
and even if it’s true, what I swear I have seen
what you’d have to do would split you at the seams
-
it’d never be worth the risk
a dream gambled for so much less
just come clean, a daydream is all this is
some scene, from a movie we probably all saw as stupid kids

I’m sure you can tell most of this is an act
It can all go to hell, as a matter of fact
If I even thought this one could be solved
If I even thought the words could be carved
If I even thought I had something you want 
I’d ruin my life for those lottery odds.

Sorrow Laundering (Acoustic Demo)

from the ground

If I go

glue

Tu gagnes, tu perds

Tu gagnes, tu perds, rejoue
Tu gagnes, tu perds, sauvegarde la partie
Tu gagnes, tu perds, nouvelles règles à nouveau

Tu gagnes, tu perds, rejoue
Tu gagnes, tu perds, une autre partie
Tu gagnes, tu perds, encore des règles

Même l'amour, tu peux gagner, tu peux perdre
C'est un pari ; chaque cœur en souffre
Tu gagnes, tu perds

Tu gagnes, tu perds, aime à nouveau
Tu gagnes, tu perds, c'est pareil
Tu gagnes, tu perds, suis les règles

Tu gagnes, tu perds, les enjeux sont élevés
Tu gagnes, tu perds, c'est la vie ou la mort
Tu gagnes, tu perds, allume la flamme
Fais mouche

Même l'amour, tu peux gagner, tu peux perdre
C'est un pari ; Chaque cœur est meurtri
Tu gagnes, tu perds

Tu gagnes, tu perds, saisis ta chance
Tu gagnes, tu perds, c'est une danse
Tu gagnes, tu perds, lance les dés
Paye le prix

Feux clignotants, la partie a commencé
Les cœurs s'inclinent sous le soleil
Chaque geste peut avoir son prix
Courir après l'amour, c'est le but ultime
Est-ce que ça durera ? On ne le saura jamais

Tu gagnes, tu perds, un dernier essai
Tu gagnes, tu perds, ne te demande pas pourquoi
Tu gagnes, tu perds, la partie est terminée
Plus de règles

You Win You Lose

Lyrics:

Third man, glyphic storyteller, old friend… you 
who said “we are a living myth interrupting
ordinariness.” I remember when you kissed Rilke
on the lips took
Rumi by the hand,
whispered in Pound’s ear.
You know you made some people downright hostile.
You are like an old friend even to those who
never meet you. You are bathroom-graffiti
scrawl painter of the Iliad. You are mark maker
of actual experience. My friend.
Truculent old man, dead man, I kinda love you. And
the Phaedrus Incident, really, who could blame her?
Sam’s kiss, that wasn’t cannibalism that was a 1501
euro extramarital affair.
Well 4:18 am I wake up with Twombly on my mind. I
get out of bed and stumble out into the woods with a
flashlight. I stare at the trunk of an old ash killed by the
emerald borer. Ha ha! There are your marks again you
crazy old army cryptographer.
I kiss your cheek and I go back to bed.

~

Cy Twombly Goes Mad in the Caves of Atimira

"J'ai fait juste un bisou. C'est un geste d'amour, quand je l'ai embrassé, je n'ai pas réfléchi, je pensais que l'artiste, il aurait compris... Ce geste était un acte artistique provoqué par le pouvoir de l'art" 
– Rindy Sam

credits:
Just A Tourist, from Narrow Canyons, released September 28, 2015

license
all rights reserved

Sam's Kiss

Track 10 of Between Suns album

Excuse the rude interruption, but I've got to tell you
This thing’s sinking quickly and it’s gonna kill you
It's too late to solve it with an intervention
But there are some ideas we’ve yet to mention:
Sacred string of words, holy manuscripts
Healing energy fields, electromagnets
We’ve got to get you cleaned up and out of those dress clothes
I’ll explain to you now how the sickness will unfold

It starts with insomnia and a gradual pneumonia
And when you start to cough blood, they’ll quickly disown you
And you’ll have to be open to an uncertain surface
To put your tired feet on, while we perform the surgery

Let’s get you better friend
Let’s get you better friend

When your ligaments break and your anger is toothless
With Antigone’s shame, knowing you didn’t choose this
Some will kick out the ladders, but most are indifferent
When your ashes are scattered, they’ll quickly forget you
The other night I looked up at Orion, and though he has no eyes
I could tell he’d been crying...
Up in darkness undying, I recalled the time when
You held up a lantern to a face on some money
And with comic perfection, declared its bankruptcy
Friend, I wouldn’t worry about which direction
Waters are all murky and all connected
And I wouldn’t fret who comes to your shores now
The windows are blurry inside every lighthouse
But my God! I said more than I meant to say
I just get on a tangent, get carried away...
I shouldn’t worry you all about the future
So often I get lost in all the minutiae
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But let’s get you better first
Let’s get you breathing first
Let’s get you water for your thirst
You’ll be up and at it again
And the wheels will start to spin
And we’ll worry about this then

Then

I'm happy now but sometimes I wonder
What if we had stayed together?

Sometimes I Wonder

'V'Hi She'Amda (Live)' is an upbeat and folky Passover-themed song from Akiva Zneimer (lead vocals & guitar) featuring Noam Barkany (harmonies & guitar) & Shimmy Hambling (percussion). The song draws from a wide range of influences (Shlomo Carlebach, Yosef Karduner, Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers) & is the first instalment in Zneimer's 'Live from the Besht' EP to be released in the summer of 2025.

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