The Strangest Stranger

Unsolicited Advice by Liz Arcane

We're not very sanitary
We're bad at keeping clean
Spiderwebs in every nook and cranny
Ancient and dusty magazines

Plants that should go out to pasture
Oranges slowly going green
I guess we've got our eyes upon each other
Rather than the rubbish in between

So what if there's cobwebs,
They're catching the sun
So what if the laundry never gets done
There's nothing better
Than being together
Just you, and me, and nobody
Nobody else

Sure the ceiling is collapsing
Sure the fridge is looking grim
But there's nothing more relaxing 
Than putting off these little things

Here, no one can steal the silence
Here, nobody's trying to win
Here I can be dust amongst the silence
No expectations except staying in

So what if there's cobwebs,
They're catching the sun
So what if the laundry never gets done
There's nothing better
Than being together
Just you, and me, and nobody
Nobody else

Cobwebs

Light on the window
Like a painter with a brush
Shows me that springtime will be here
In a rush
Future moments gather like the breeze
Bothering the trees

In all of my dreamtime, I see myself outdoors
Trees with beckoning branches
A sea with many shores
Fears surround me, buried at the roots
Soon to be in fruit
Soon to be in fruit.

I think I see
Strange changes coming over me
I can't go on being frightened of the world.
Just like the trees
I'm changing with the season
It won't be long 'til I am in bloom

Light at the window, like the daytime never was
I should be sleeping, but I feel like something's up
Something's growing, with the changing of the leaves,
Finally time to breathe
Finally time to breathe.

Strange Changes

I'm getting that cold frustration in my heart
Losing my concentration, I'm falling apart
And how do some people seem to get exactly what they want want?

I know that the grass is greener, everywhere
But I never had a garden to compare
But there's no point in crying or green-eyeing what I can't
Ever have

I just feel so behind
I'm late to join the chase
Like I woke up late for school
I can't maintain the pace
And I really wouldn't mind, except 
Time is getting on

I guess what I have been pondering is how to be
This existentialism is keeping me busy
Maybe the secret is that everyone feels just the same
Hiding their pain

Chorus

I know that outside, it's a beautiful day
The things we truly need are just given away
If I only could get my head in the game
But it's shame, and it's fear
They just make me want to disappear

Chorus

Frustration

In the dark of my room
I linger awake
And every morning
I sleep through the day
And that would be fine
If you were inclined to set me free.

But somehow it seems
That you're everywhere
Your step in an echo - 
Your scent in the air.
It's precious to me,
But it's crazy, I see, all the same.

You're in my book
You're in my dreams
You're on every street corner, so it seems.
You're my recourse
You're my refrain
You haunt me, and taunt me, and drive me insane.

My parents, they worry and fret,
They say aren't you over him yet,
But it worries me none, because sometimes it's fun
To be beside you

So til that day
You set me free
It's fine if you're only
Fine if you're only
Imaginary

My parents, they worry and fret,
They say aren't you over him yet,
But it worries me none, because sometimes it's fun
To be beside you

So til that time
You set me free
It's fine if you're only
Killing the lonely
Fine if you're only
Imaginary

Imaginary

(Woodpecker)

Red-headed tree inspector
Sore-faced insect collector
Tiny self-respecter
Fine-feathered friend detector
Sky-spinning orchestrator
Secret canopy-waiter
Closet cabinet-maker
Fly in flash of green

Why must you hurt yourself to live?
Has the world nothing else to give you?
One day we hope that you will help us help you
We'd really like to

But you're so distant in the strata
Unswayed by breeze or barter
Elfin-quick depart-er
Gone before we've started
Hole-digger
Plant-stripper
Core-pipper
Yarn-ripper
Home-wrecker
Park-trekker
Woodpecker

Why must you hurt yourself to live?
Has the world nothing else to give you?
One day we hope that you will help us help you
We'd really like to

But if we can't help you
What do we do? To help ourselves,
To help ourselves.

But if we can't help you
What do we do? To help ourselves,
To help ourselves.

(Woodpecker)

Woodpecker

Sing until the sun sets
On a special evening
The blushing of the sky
Tells me to bide my time

The road is long and wide
I don't want to cross it, or travel anywhere
I spent the day inside
How am I going to break out if no one knows I'm here?
I feel so weary
I feel so damn resigned
But I'll find the time to

Sing until the sun sets
Such a special evening
The fading of the blue
I hope I'm pulling through
Sing until the sun sets
While the day is leaving
The blushing of the sky
Tells me to bide my time

There are many people who feel fine
All of the time
It's so hard
For them to grasp
If they only knew we just need time
And a little kindness
And sun, sunshine
That's why I'm trying

To sing until the sun sets
Such a special evening
The blushing of the sky
Tells me to bide my time
Sing until the sun sets
On a special evening
The fading of the blue
And I think I'm pulling through

I think I'm pulling through, it just takes time
It just takes time

Sing Until the Sun Sets

love is like a record
playing on repeat
it plays until it's worn away
familiar and sweet

but in each revolution
it's never quite the same
there's something new
or maybe you have changed

it could be a winding road
or a merry go round
something going on and on
strong and bright and proud 
or sometimes like a dream, the kind
that wakes you with a kiss
whatever you call it,
I believe it exists

because nothing's right without you
sugar's only sour
the time ticks on
but there's no meaning
in each quiet hour

so let me play that record 
just eternally
it's not much to ask
just a little you and me

Revolving love 😍

Love is like a record
Playing on repeat
It plays until it's worn away
Familiar and sweet

But in each revolution
It's never quite the same
There's something new
Or maybe you have changed

It could be a winding road
Or a merry-go-round
Something going on and on
Strong and bright and proud
Or sometimes like a dream, the kind that wakes you with a kiss
Whatever you call it, I believe it exists

Because nothing's right without you
Sugar's only sour
The time ticks on
But there's no meaning in each quiet hour

So let me play that record
Just eternally 
It's not much to ask, just a little more you and me
I just want to ask for a little more you and me

Revolving Love - Tasty edition (home studio)

If misery loves company
Why are you avoiding me?
Is it some kind of mutiny of pride
Aren't you wise to my ways, by this ancient stage?

If women are a mystery
Maybe you've a history 
Of not listening to me
And my need for company
At least some of the time

Still my 
Arms are open
Like a river mouth
Yes my arms are open
Though we're going south of the line
My arms are open
But they've started closing
When will you notice?

I'm not saying I'm perfect
Ain't nobody perfect
I'm just saying is it worth it
To fight every single day
I just feel so alone
It ain't no home

Still my arms are open
Like a cellar door
Yes my arms are open
I still adore you, for my sins
My arms are open
But they've started closing
When will you notice me?
Baby...

Yes my arms are open
But they're just ajar
Yes my arms are open
Will you see me on my way?
My arms are open
Arms are open
Arms are closing

Open Arms

I made you breakfast in bed
To erase the word that we said
In a cold December, it gets hard to remember
You're the only real warmth that I've known.

Could we take it right back to the Old School?
When all that we needed was drink to feel cool,
When I put on a face,
I owed the place - well, am I remembering wrong?

We had our problems back then,
I guess they just seemed like part of the plan.
When I showed you the ghosts around my bedpost
You said, that could happen to anyone.

Should we take it right back to the Old School?
Precious moments drowned out by alcohol
Now I'm long in the tooth,
Still I miss my youth,
But am I remembering wrong?

Maybe we're all remembering wrong,
Maybe we're all remembering wrong,
Was it so fine? I don't have the time to wonder...

Because my dreams lived like flowers,
Come and gone in the hour,
Lost in that misplaced romance,
And if it wasn't for you,
I think that I'd still be making
The same old mistakes of the Old School.

So let's not go back to the Old School.
Those who survived know that life is uncool,
So let's say no regrets,
Until it's convincing
We were just young fools,
We were just young fools,
Who learned in the Old School.

Old School

This isn't new to me
I know you want it to be,
Everyone likes to be the first

Idle curiosity
Sidled up and swallowed me
In the small hours, unobserved

So that's when I think of you
When the night-time's almost through
And I wonder, do you think of me too?
Well, do you?

Sometimes the thought's enough,
I don't kid myself it's love
We all want to feel seen

At first, it was a kind of leisure
Now it's a painful pleasure,
Like a dark cloud in a dream.

So I just think of you
When the daytime can't intrude
Because I'm certain that you think of me too,
Well, you do.

Oh, the richness,
The forbidden deliciousness
Will it make me satisfied?
Insolent cravings,
My indolent behaviour,
Maybe I'm spoiling my appetite

But I need to think of you,
To get this feeling through
But then I know that my thoughts can be untrue,
Well, do you?
Well, do you?

Sweetmeat

A recording of an original song 'Carousel' by Liz Arcane.

LYRICS

Well I hope that this is love
Though I know you are tired, little girl
Of walking all alone, down by the riverside
Cos I've seen it all before, but with familiar eyes
His dull words will wear you out
Til you're a damsel in disguise

But who am I to say what's right and what's wrong?
I know I'm a sad, cold ghost
Seeking the Sun.

Still I hope that you are sure
And that wisdom comes with age
Your sad eyes would bleed a stone
Or draw ink from the page
For the carousel goes on
With it's old familiar sway
Nothing's going to slow it down, unless the horses bolt the stage

But who am I to say what's right and what's wrong?
I know I'm a sad, cold ghost
Seeking the Sun that only breaks the clouds
To watch your body run, run, run
Back to his arms
And under his thumb.

All music and lyrics copyright Liz Arcane.



Carousel by Liz Arcane

I wrote English Rose several years ago, inspired by the black dahlia case with Elizabeth Short and the mystery surrounding this - who was this girl, and how did she get here? Who did she meet and how did someone stop her short? And how easy it is for a person to change the life of somebody else by drawing on their ideas and inspirations, sometimes so good, and sometimes so bad, and turn you into something you never thought you would be.

ENGLISH ROSE

My English rose, Has the sweetest black eyes
Hers is the colour, polluting the skies
And hers is the dirt
Perverting the dream
Hers is the bitterness, that curdles the cream

And it's not like I love you
I just want to be a part of you
Bright sails, so pale
And it's not like I love you
I wouldn't fall a thousand feet for you
I know, I'd fail

My dahlia, black and twisted like Elroy made her
Smothered by pillows, drowned in canals
No heroine, could survive that brutal beating
So weak, so thin

And it's not like I love you
I just want to be a part of you
Bright sails, so pale
And it's not like I love you
I wouldn't fall a thousand feet for you
I know, I'd fail

All lyrics and music copyright Liz Arcane.


English Rose by Liz Arcane

A Liz Arcane and the White Lightning recording of  Liz Arcane song, performed in 2010. Song, lyrics and music copyright Liz Arcane with additional music by Jo Albany, Aspen Taylor and Chris March.

The Secret History

As the Crow Flies

A live recording of a song I wrote about five years ago.

LYRICS
If I hold you down tonight
Will it make my lies all right?
Or will it just push you down even further
You're not a learner, my girl
And I've had enough of innocent love.

Don't forget to dry your eyes
After you pretend to cry
And don't tell me you feel like a victim
Your tears are fiction, my girl
And I've had enough of innocent love.

Liquorice and Nicorette, that's what we will steal
And I don't have any regrets
Except learning how to feel.

See the Shining crocodile
See the danger in his smile
And don't you dare to look at me sadly
I can't be your daddy, my love
And I've had enough of innocent love.

Liquorice and Nicorette, that's what we will steal
And I don't have any regrets
Except learning how to feel.
And I don't have any regrets
Except learning how to -

I know that you're beautiful
Well now, darling, don't we all.
But I can't be the one to have told you
I barely can hold you tonight
And I've had enough of innocence
And I've had enough of innocent love
And I've had enough
Of Innocence.

"it's a bit over the top isn't it? It's quite short though so.."

"Quite short???!??"

ALL MUSIC AND LYRICS COPYRIGHT LIZ ARCANE - Piano and vocal Liz Arcane, additional guitar Matt Doherty

Crocodile by Liz Arcane

liz arcane
singer-songwriter and session singer / songwriter for hire based in London. This page is for demos - see my Spotify or Apple profile for originals released via Island Farm Studios.
https://linktr.ee/lizarcane?utm_source=linktree_admin_share&fbclid=PAAaYpp_iCgdY3hclvFJFka52bTkswTLPtFiXnhvHJ__LfWLUPo_IAAOuLYTo

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