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The Cards We've Drawn (220111 mix)

I wrote this song for friends of mine who were high school sweethearts who hadn't seen one another for 35 years then re-met and were finally getting married. Didn't think I could write a love song until this one came out of me in one sitting. This version has a string arrangement written by my friend Carol Sharar. She plays both violin parts, and Loni Bach plays cello. Our friend Rave Tesar recorded the strings and mixed the song at his studio in Warwick, NY, one of the nicest and most collaborative sessions I've ever done. Stands out as one of my favorites of all time.

You - 2023 with String Arrangement written by Carol Sharar

© 2014 Robby Berman.

I'm living in a funhouse mirror
Baffled at my strange appearance
Weird living in a funhouse mirror
How'd I wind up here?
I'm living in a funhouse mirror
Wondering what the world is seeing
I'm living in a funhouse mirror
I think it isn't me.
Peekaboo
I see you
Or what appears to be
It walks and talks a bit like you
Or maybe that's just me.
You think your heart is on your sleeve
I beg to disagree
If it's a bluff it's good enough
To fool someone like me.
I'm living in a funhouse mirror
Baffled at my strange appearance
Weird living in a funhouse mirror
It's crazy up in here.
I'm living in a funhouse mirror
Wondering what the world is seeing
I'm living in a funhouse mirror
I hope it isn't me.
Ha ha
Very funny
Ha ha
Odd charade
Ha ha
Everybody
Living in a masquerade.
Holy cow
I don't know how
To make it work at all
My tattered charm should so disarm
And hold 'em in my thrall.
But no one seems to look my way
At times I want them to
What do they see instead of me?
Or can they see right through?
I'm living in a funhouse mirror
Baffled at my strange appearance
I'm living in funhouse mirror
How'd I wind up here?
So cuckoo in a funhouse mirror
Wondering who on earth you're seeing
I'm living in a funhouse mirror
I pray it isn't me.

Funhouse Mirror

© 2014 Robby Berman.

What I thought that I knew I could easily do
Wasn't half of the story I see to be true
And I wish that I'd paid more attention to you
I'm in need of a favor, come over at two.
John, please take me away from this, whoah
John, please take me away from this
John, please take me away from this, whoah
John, please take me away from this.
I will wait by the door 'till a quarter to four
Just a beep, and I'll flee like a prisoner of war
I will thank you and love you like always before
And I'll owe you one more if we're watching the score.
Oh, what is it I've done
I'll cut my losses and run
From what had started as fun
But that's a long time done.
I can clearly now see what has happened to me
As I bit off a piece that I thought I could eat
But it bit me right back and the kick in the teeth
Is we'd all have been fine if I'd just let it be.
John, please take me away from this, whoah
John, please take me away from this
John, please take me away from this, whoah
John, please take me away from this.
John, please take me away from this, whoah
John, please take me away from this
John, please take me away from this, whoah
John, please take me away from this, whoah.

John, Please Take Me Away From This

© 2014 Robby Berman.

Moonlight
Beyond the pines
A highway
That sings and shines
It's fine
That no one else rides
Upon this road
The moon
And me
Below.
Days gone by
I would drive and drive
Through the darkness
In search of the other side 
What the hey?
Though I've changed my ways 
Here I am, here we go,
Like the olden days
Back at home they're fast asleep
As over hill and dale I creep
Moonlight
Beyond the pines
A highway
That sings and shines
It's fine
That no one else rides
Upon this road
The moon
And me
Below.
What on earth is wrong with me
Who buckled in and turned the key?
Moonlight
Beyond the pines
A highway
That sings and shines
It's fine
That no one else rides
Upon this road
The moon
And me
Below.
Free at last
From my lonely past
And the heartache
I feared I could not outlast
Problem solved
Emptiness resolved
Better days here to stay
I have  been absolved.
Up beyond that second bend
I'll turn around for home again.
Moonlight
Beyond the pines
A highway
That sings and shines
It's fine
That no one else rides
Upon this road
The moon
And me
Below,
The moon
And me
Below,
The moon
And me
Below.

The Moon and Me

© 2014 Robby Berman.

One unbroken conversation
Every word that we ever spoke
From a private joke to an angry lie.
Rich with themes and implications
Things we said or we might’ve heard
Or had been inferred as the days flew by.
Maybe back then on the day we met
There we things we said
That we might regret
Didn’t we get right into it
As back and forth
That ball was hit.
Precedent set by the early words
And with no idea what had just occurred
You and I had in fact begun
This dialog still going on.
And word upon word eventually
Would carry us far beyond our morning star
And here we are.
And this is...
One unbroken conversation
Every word that we ever spoke
From an angry joke to a sorry lie.
Rich with hopes and expectations
Things we said or we might’ve heard
Or had not inferred as the days flew by.
You say today’s topic starts a new conversation
Good luck with that—
They’re all continuations.
And word upon word eventually
Would carry us far beyond that morning star
To where we are.
Tell me again what you really mean
And I’ll do my best not to make a scene
Say it now with some smaller words
I’ll tell you what I thought I heard.
It's one unbroken conversation
Every word that we ever spoke
From a silly joke to a tender lie.
Rich with ghosts and imprecations
Things we said or we might’ve heard
Or had been inferred as the years flew by.

One Unbroken Conversation

© 2014 Robby Berman.

Every day
In a million ways
I get so amazed
At all the things you do and say.
Where you’re from
What you’ve overcome
Look how well you’ve done
And you have just begun.
You’re self-propelled
And that’s for sure
But you are mine
And I am yours…
Always
Always
Always
Always.
Do we always get along
Uh-uh, no
Do we ever get mad?
I should say so
Stubborn us
We can’t be wrong
And won’t let go
But after words and tears
The smoke will clear
‘Cause we’re in love.
Always
Always
Always
Always.
You’re something else,
And that’s for sure
I’m glad you’re mine
And that I’m yours…
Every night
When I hold you tight
Wish I may and might
Remain to daylight.
When you rise
What will you devise
With those sparkling eyes
To keep us all so surprised.
You won’t be stopped
And that’s for sure
The sky could fall
And you’d endure
It’s good to know
There is no cure
That you are mine
And I am yours…
Always
Always
Always
Always.

Always

© 2014 Robby Berman.

Dream your dreams my sleepyheads
Safe and sound, asleep in bed
I'll be up to join you soon
Following the moon
And following this tune.

Following the Moon

“Fly” is a song with a story. I wrote the piano part years ago, but I was stuck. Just didn’t know what to do with it. So I asked Tony Levin 3000 miles away if he'd record a bass part for the song, hoping whatever he did would inspire me to finish it. He did, and of course I loved it, but I still didn’t know what to do with it. I had a melody and a title, but no idea what I wanted to say with the lyrics. Two years went by. Frustrated and impatient, I asked my friend John Alan to take my piano and Tony's bass and use our tracks to write his own song. It was as an experiment I’d always wanted to try, and here was the opportunity. How would John’s song, and the song I would eventually write, turn out with both of us using the very same backing tracks? Would they be entirely different (yes) and would John’s song inspire me to get mine done? (yes). John wrote and recorded his song in a few weeks. As soon as I heard his, mine started coming to life. It took me another few months, but it’s finally done. I’m grateful for Tony Levin (bass) and Robby Berman (keyboards, mix, and mastering engineer), and especially, for John Alan. If you’re curious, you can hear his version of “Fly” wherever you listen to music.

Fly

I don’t love you like I’d love to love you
And I don’t know what love is
But I know why I love you
And I don’t know why I don’t know how to fly

I’d love to fly away
I wonder why I never fly with you
When there’s such a view

You don’t love me like I know you want to love me
And I don’t know why you love me
When I don’t always love to love me
But when I find a way to fly

I wonder why I never fly with you   
I wonder why we never fly away 
When there’s such a view way up here in the blue

How can I?
You and I?

How can I? How can you? How will we fly?
How do you? How will I? When can we fly?

Way up here it’s so quiet and so far away



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Hey, hey
See-Not-Seen
They call him
Papa Sei Papa Soto
Hey, hey
Papa Sei Papa Soto
See-Not-Seen
Well, the people
Tell a story
Of a man who
Learned the way to be
Among 'em
They look through him
They don't see him
When he shakes his head and says
Hey, hey
See-Not-Seen
They call me
Papa Sei Papa Soto
Hey, hey
Papa Sei Papa Soto
See-Not-Seen
A-well the people
Bring him problems
He’ll be singing
As they sleep they feel
Solutions
Wake untroubled
They don't see the
Silent tear he weeps
They go
Hey, hey
See-Not-Seen they call him
Papa Sei Papa Soto
Hey, hey
Papa Sei Papa Soto
See-Not-Seen
They go
Root-too-too-too-too-too-toot
Root-too-too-too-too-too-toot
Root-too-too-too-too-too-toot
Root-too-too-too-too-too-toot
A-well-a one day
They may ask him
Do you feel?
And
How you are?
He says, I'm talking
Can't you hear me?
Must this magic
Always go too far?
They go
Hey, hey
See-Not-Seen they call him
Papa Sei Papa Soto
Hey, hey
Papa Sei Papa Soto
See-Not-Seen
Hey
Hey
Hey
Papa Sei Papa Soto
See-Not-Seen
They go hey!

See-Not-Seen_Robby_Berman

I look
Don’t see
There’s nothing here for me
I leave
I cry
Half the way home
I came
It’s true
In hopes of seeing you
I leave
I cry
Half the way home

I’ve been in school today
The same as yesterday
The clowns have come into their own
I tried to think of who should
Laugh just as hard as I would
I came to think of you alone

I try
I do
There’s no replacing you
I leave
I cry
Half the way home

Big crowd
No space
It’s still an empty place
I leave
I cry
Half the way home

How could you think of me
That I would prefer to fail
And that’d be why I’d love you so
Call it a waking dream
Think it a fairy tale
But haven’t you heard sometimes you know
And I know
But no

I’ve been in school today
The same as yesterday
The clowns have come into their own
I tried to think of who should
Laugh just as hard as I would
I came to think of you alone

I look
Don’t see
There’s nothing here for me
I leave
I cry
Half the way home

I came
It’s true
In hopes of seeing you
I leave
I cry
Half the way home

Half the way home
Half the way home
Half the way home
Half the way home

Half the Way Home

Hello world! I've been making music for a long time and have loved almost every moment of it. Would love to hear from you if my music speaks your language. Thank you for listening.

Fly

Bar Scott

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