Featured on The Ugly Radio episode "Her Symbol Is The Sickle"

Ugly Radio ep. 4

Lyrics:

Your soles scrape the granite sand
in silent search for diamonds or pearls
But dry land will make you prey 
for the beaks and teeth of pretty gulls
Is dear life hiding in there?
In that cold beach's ungold, uncombed hair?

I think it's cool the cat's got your tongue
it's an invertebrate's break at great escape
'cause you look as happy as a clam
who's trying to run away

This whole place is a chowder keg, 
like a golden egg that we dig for in hundreds
Shellshocked roe, squirming slow,
til they go into the death sentence buckets
Boiling lobsters don't actually scream
That's just their little way of lettin' off steam

I think it's downright cruel the cat's got your tongue
it's an invertebrate's break at great escape
'cause you look as happy as a clam
who's trying to run away

So roll up your pant-legs, rest ashored, you'll find someone delicious
Or we'll go to the aquarium, and club the baby seals
for eating the fishes

Early Drafts

Happy As A Clam (a capella)

Lyrics:

Nina, I really tried not to cry
but when you find that it's over
you find you wish for more time

Nina, you were color and light
but if we can't stay forever
I guess there's nothing more to write

and we'll fall into fallible memory
and I'll fail to compose a new melody

Nina, you surprised me every day
we built 42 universes
in so small a space

Nina, I'm unpacking your metaphors
and unfolding the subtext
of what everything stood for

like when work was a whiskey communion
and a waltz was a wild hallelujah

Nina, a funny thing about echoes
is that they never reach zero
so they're never really gone

Nina, do you know what this means?
Mathematically speaking,
our universes live on

and our lives are still echoing now
in the firepit, in the final bow
and inside of my unfinished scimiles
there's still time to compose you a symphony

and please pardon the constant comparin'
but I'm drawn to your light like a [...line?]
and when I said "We are alone"
when I said "We are alone"
when I said "We are alone"

I was wrong.

Epilogue

Anthem (Leonard Cohen cover)

Lyrics:

And now I am a wild thing, beginning to gnaw,
Had hare-triggered a trap spring, a gasping metal maw.
And if I'm not supposed to secede this paw
fend freedom from the fever of swallowing blood--

Now I'm swimming in the summer, gasping under the deep end
I'll inhale and swallow water, flailing farther, just beyond the edge.
And if I'm not supposed to play a sinking pretend
where I'm having a tea party and drinking the flood,

then what do I do now?
What do I do now?
What do I do now?

And now I am I'm a lighthouse standing night watch in a fusillade
In a storm of roaring hissing, a wild thing beginning to gnaw.
And if I'm not supposed to relent to law
to bow and bend in fealty in the thickening mud,

then what do I do now?
What do I do now?
What do I do now?
What do I do now?

And if I'm not supposed to bow and bend,
And if I'm not supposed to howl and rend,
And if I'm not supposed to fail or freeze or flail or flee,
or drown it down and over and out,

Then what do I do now?

Escape Hatches

Song of Solomon came out of a desire to reinterpret old myths, so that they might validate and empower their readers, rather than humiliate and punish them. So I repurposed biblical language and the Eden story for my own nefarious porpoises--It only seemed right to do it in the form of a gospel song. 

Engineered by Eric Padget at Noise Noise Ouch Stop Studios.

Oxenfree

Song Of Solomon

Original Score to the dance film, All Your Broken Waves, written & directed by Jacob Bevelacqua. Premiered at Fuselage Film Festival, 2018.

Composed, performed, and recorded by Lauren Freman.

All Your Broken Waves

All Your Broken Waves score

Lyrics:

Poor baby, she thinks that all that glitters can stay
But ain't no body got the baby,
And she's already blowin' away

To your testament, you've got an iron will
Well it's brave to pound the pavement, but you're still road kill
Now you've left your cozy corner, you're a four course meal
For this corvus line--
see that corpse? that's mine!

Poor baby, your soul is sorry, sullen, and sore
Sweet little story, but you can pen your pretty poetry
nevermore.

--
From 'The Devil and Sarah Blackwater,' a new musical by Anthea Carns, with lyrics and music by Lauren Freman

Poor Baby

Lyrics:

Hush little lamb, my tender babe
Who cruelly abandoned her family
You just couldn't wait to play in the grave
But despite all your shame, I want you
with me

Hush little child, now don’t you cry
There's no need to pout, and whine, and suffer
So many years have passed you by
And still I extend my gentle offer

For you
For you
For you, I've made it so easy
After everything I’ve done, could you try to do just one
Little thing for me

When darling, you begged to “not disappear”
(I've only myself to blame)
Didn't I keep you free from change?
(You kept me    free)
Didn’t I keep you safe out here?
(And every day I'd stay the same)
As long as you keep within hearing range
(And stay where you could see)

For you (for me)
Poor you (for me)
Or you 
Could be treated like royalty (it would be so easy)
In a garden, in the sun
You could try to do this one
Little thing for me

Your friends have forgotten you anyway
You'll learn to forget them back one day
Your mother’s tears have dried before very long
Sarah'd throw away her soul before writing you a song
It's best to think--

--

From The Devil and Sarah Blackwater, a musical by Anthea Carns, with music and lyrics by Lauren Freman

The Temptation Of Kelly

Award-Winning Writer | Performer | Versatile Vocalist

Lauren Freman is an award-winning writer and performer whose work has resonated with audiences from coast to coast. A proud member of the Dramatist's Guild and recent alum of the prestigious BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in NYC, Lauren stands among a distinguished legacy of musical theatre practitioners. She brings a harmony-driven, folk-infused style to her compositions, blending heartfelt authenticity with a contemporary edge.

In 2021, Lauren was commissioned to compose music and lyrics for "And So That Happened," a world-premiere musical produced by Seattle’s legendary 5th Avenue Theatre. Her score for "The Devil and Sarah Blackwater" (Annex Theatre) earned the People's Choice Award for Outstanding New Play at the 2019 Gregory Awards. Lauren’s performances have been featured in a wide array of projects, from live theater to short films and sci-fi/horror audio dramas like "The Ugly Radio" (Podmoth Network). 

Let's discuss how her unique voice can enhance your project.

Lauren Freman

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