It's about self-determination and you can dance to it! Lyrics:

Helpy helpers and splainy splainers
I don't mean to be a complainer
It's beautiful that you want to help
But you won't decide how I get to define myself
'Cause I'm about way more than just fitting in and playing a game
And I'm about way more than making everybody be the same
And I'm about way more than working overtime to be your clone
Do I have to do this all alone?
'Cause I don't want sympathy, what I need is opportunity
Don't tell me what I cannot be, give me positive ID
Don't shed a tear about my plight, celebrate what I'm doing right
If you want to be there for me, you've got to give me
Positive ID, positive ID, positive ID, yeah yeah
Freaky freakouts and people people
Do you truly think I'm your equal
Please find it in you to forgive
That I can't be objective about something I live
'Cause I'm about telling the world what life is like in these ruby shoes
And I'm about telling the world some stuff they can't say on the news
And I'm about telling the world there won't be anyone who
Will ever know me better than I do (is that all right with you?)
'Cause I don't want sympathy, what I need is opportunity
Don't tell me what I cannot be, give me positive ID
Don't shed a tear about my plight, celebrate what I'm doing right
If you want to be there for me, you've got to give me
Positive ID, positive ID, positive ID, yeah yeah
Don't make me be your apple tree
When I know I'm a coconut palm
If I don't fit in can I still belong
How's that go, first do no harm
Don't make me breathe underwater
I know I live on land
See everything I am
I know you can
And you know you can
'Cause I don't want sympathy, what I need is opportunity
Don't tell me what I cannot be, give me positive ID
Don't shed a tear about my plight, celebrate what I'm doing right
If you want to be there for me, you've got to give me
Positive ID, positive ID, positive ID, yeah yeah yeah yeah!

Positive ID (downloadable mp3)

It's about the Venus of Willendorf! Lyrics:

Venus if you will is a big round mother
Less than five inches high but she goes around forever
She lay undiscovered 20,000+ years
Until Willendorfers dug her up and made her a star

Venus if you will is a big round mother
Less than five inches high but she goes around forever
She's older than dirt but she's fresh as the morning
She's made out of stone but she's lots of fun to hug

Venus if you will is one hell of a lover
'Cause she loves everybody and she's gonna love you too
She's a dream in plain beige but her light has every color
'Cause there's nothing to disguise her, clothe her, cover her

Venus...

Venus if you will is a big round mother
Less than five inches high but she goes around forever
She's solid through and through and you can never destroy her
But if you listen closely you can hear a tender heart

Venus if you will is a big round mother
But you can hold her power in the palm of your hand
She's everywhere you look but there's nobody like her
And everybody needs a little Venus in their life

No hands but she'll hold you tight all night long
No feet but she'll dance with you clear through to dawn
No eyes but she can see everything that's going on
Inside you even if you think you don't want her to know

Venus...

Venus if you will is a big round mother
Less than five inches high but she goes around forever
She lay undiscovered 20,000+ years
Until Willendorfers dug her up and made her a star

Venus if you will is a big round mother
Less than five inches high but she goes around forever
She lay undiscovered
She lay

Venus, If You Will...

About wanting to be important, but also wanting to know the right way to be important.

Lyrics:
Matter, what does it really mean to matter
'Cause there's gotta be more to life than just not getting killed
Though that's a good start
Shattered, sometimes I just get shattered because
People say I'm OK but could I ever become indispensable
That's the hard part
Tell me, am I anything new, or do I only wish that was true?

'Cause I've got to matter, don't just want to be lifeless matter
Or antimatter that takes up space but has no real place in this world
OK just won't do, I've got to be incredible, unforgettable
I've got to matter, matter, matter

Matter, how will I know when I matter, because
As much as I'd love to never have to stand in line again
It's not about being a star
Ladders, people only want to climb their ladders, and that's all
But I fell off my own ladder a long time ago
And I still have the scar
No, what preoccupies my mind
Is making something worth leaving behind

'Cause I've got to matter, don't just want to be lifeless matter
Or antimatter that takes up space but has no real place in this world
Through countless flaming hoops I've pirouetted and twirled
With full makeup on and my hair newly curled
Just to have a hope that there could be one place
One place in this world, where I could be incredible
Unforgettable, indispensable, finally finally finally at long last
Respectable
To matter, matter, matter, matter

'Cause I've got to matter, don't just want to be lifeless matter
Or antimatter that takes up space but has no real place in this world
Can you hear me out there, show me what's mine to do
I've got to be incredible, unforgettable
To matter, matter, matter

Matter

In honor of my impossible dreams!

I know you won't say it but you think I've lost my mind
The kind of love I say I want is the kind I'll never find
You say the search will kill me, I get hurt so easily
But I'm telling you now something's changed
That was the old me

What if you never knew me before
And we met now for the very first time
Maybe you'd be more like
These new friends of mine
Who say girl it's time, you gotta go all in and then

Chorus: Watch what happens
When you let your love bleed through
'Cause nobody knows what will happen
And everybody says they do
And you know what, even if their dire predictions
Turned out to be true
The only one who has to live every second
Of your life is you
So give it all you got and then watch what happens

You say human heads are heavy, they contain a lot of shit
You can pour in all the love you want
And they won't know what to do with it
You say I'm not the problem, it's that people are so mean
And why waste time I don't have
Chasing a pipe dream

When you get too far inside my head my feet start feeling cold
But I know what my fate will be
If I keep doing what I'm told
If you loved me you'd say girl, it's time to be bold and then

(chorus)

I just walked by McDonald's, the line was 50 deep
To hand in job applications, the cost of entry's steep
You need strong family connections plus an Ivy League degree
To land that plum gig making fries
I guess that excludes me and maybe you too?
So what the hell, we might as well all shoot for the moon and then

(chorus)

Watch What Happens

New and improved vocal! Still about the Venus of Willendorf.

Lyrics:
Venus, if you will, is a big round mother
Less than 5 inches high but she goes around forever
She lay undiscovered 20,000 plus years
Until Willendorfers dug her up and made her a star

Venus, if you will, is a big round mother
Less than 5 inches high but she goes around forever
She's older than dirt but she's fresh as the morning
She's made out of stone but she's lots of fun to hug

Venus, if you will, is one hell of a lover
'Cause she loves everybody and she's gonna love you too
She's a dream in plain beige but her light has every color
'Cause there's nothing to disguise her, clothe her, cover her
Venus...oooh

Venus, if you will, is a big round mother
Less than 5 inches high but she goes around forever
She's solid through and through and you can never destroy her
But if you listen closely you can hear a tender heart

Venus, if you will, is a big round mother
But you can hold her power in the palm of your hand
She's everywhere you look but there's nobody like her
And everybody needs a little Venus in their life

No hands but she'll hold you tight all night long
No feet but she'll dance with you clear through to dawn
No eyes but she can see everything that's going on
Inside you even if you think you don't want her to know
Venus...oooh

Venus, if you will, is a big round mother
Less than 5 inches high but she goes around forever
She lay undiscovered 20,000 plus years
Until Willendorfers dug her up and made her a star

Venus, if you will, is a big round mother
Less than 5 inches high but she goes around forever
She lay undiscovered, she lay undiscovered
She lay undiscovered, she lay undiscovered
She lay

Venus, If You Will...(2017 vocal)

I started with a song about  the pleasure of making music with whatever you had on hand, which I performed live singing and clapping until I could figure out how to open it out. Now I have, with my Ubass, a truly janky old mini electric guitar, and found percussion like a pill box shaker, a Talking Rain "bottle bass," and a knitting needle tapped on a drink cup. This one was fun to make!

Lyrics:

Technology's all right with me, wouldn't want to live without it, oh no
Gets me from point A to point B, there's no doubt about it, oh no
But I love that there's a song that will come along with me
Anywhere I go
All I have to do is clap and it takes me back
To the place where I found it, uh huh

And suddenly I'm playing drums in an angel band
And other people help out with their voices and their hands
And I'm reeling from the sheer pleasure our sound brings
I'm so happy when I'm imagining things, imagining things
Oooh, imagining things

Electricity's just fine by me, had it since I was a kid, oh yeah
I heard music in the hair dryer, music in the dishwasher
Because of course I did
But there's an energy source inside of me
And I learned how to do my stuff
When the juice was running low, 'cause you never know
When you could get knocked off the grid

When my phone's gone kablooey and my 'puter's on the fritz
I'm plugged into a power supply that never quits
In my mind my angel band dances and sings
I'm so happy when I'm imagining things, imagining things
Oooh, imagining things

Gonna slow it down, slow it down
Let my rhythm catch up with my soul
One day my whole body will slow to a crawl
But that's all right, I'll be prepared, I won't get too scared
As long as I can feel my own pulse, and as long
As I can feel you all clapping out a heartbeat
Clapping out a heartbeat, faster and faster, faster and faster
They say imagining things is bad
But this might be the most fun I've ever had

'Cause inside me there's a Christmas tree
Colorful and glowing
And I'm in ecstasy to be going where I'm going
You'll see me light up in every color on those strings
I'm so happy when I'm imagining things, imagining things
Ooh, imagining things

Don't wanna stop but I have to stop in 1, 2, 3, 4

Imagining Things

A tune inspired by the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and his most recent memoir, in which he talked about facing down his lifelong demons. And yes, there are sleigh bells in it.  Lyrics:

I used to go to Venice Beach in the winter
With a Thrifty ice cream cone in my hand
It was hard not to think about the Beach Boys
While watching rocky road drip on to the sand
Those songs made everyone so happy
Except the guy who composed most of them
You’d never have caught him dead on a surfboard
Unless it went through hell and back again, they told me

Chorus: Brian Wilson is afraid of the ocean
He hates the beach, no seriously
It’s so obvious to everyone who knows him
Plus he said it in his autobiography
Oh whoa

I went to Los Angeles to look for my brain
They say it’s always in the last place you search
All my sound files always wound up in the round files
Didn’t know what I was doing on this earth
But I never got sold down the river
By my father trying to bleed me dry
Never had a shrink take over my whole life
My shrink taught me to ask myself why it is that

(chorus)

When Brian Wilson was about 70, he said
He conquered one of his oldest fears
He went with his family to the ocean and swam in it
For the first time in over 40 years
I guess if there’s a takeaway from this, it’s
Life is set in sand more than set in stone
And if there’s one thing I want to do with music
It’s to let people know they’re not alone
I knew I was not alone the day I found out

(chorus)

Brian Wilson Is Afraid Of The Ocean (demo)

Recorded live at Influence Music Hall, Hillsboro, OR, 2/9/18. Solo acoustic, radically different from previous recorded version two years ago. Includes 30 second spoken intro where I tell everyone I'm autistic and demonstrate/describe flapping, which I bring back during the breakdown. The crowd energy and participation was fantastic on this one! Lyrics:

Chorus: Can’t see a thing, but I know it’s there, I can hear it, feel it, taste it everywhere
That game was rigged, I knew it all along, I might be crazy but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong

Back when I was the size of a fire hydrant, I asked could I play, and they said no you can’t
But lo, I was stubborn, wouldn’t accept a no, so they said if you really want to then let’s go
And they gave me a blindfold, taped bricks to my legs, laid out a 10 mile path of Faberge eggs
Then they said now walk backwards, relax and have fun
But we’ll have to kill you if you step on one
But my other senses told me even though I couldn’t see
No one else got bricks or blindfolds but me

(chorus) 

I know my eyes have tricked me so many times, watched myself commit imaginary crimes
Saw love in people’s faces when all they felt was hate and I saw hate when they thought I was great
It was like whenever I was dying of thirst, I’d see a cold drink machine and I’d get out my purse
Then I’d put in my money, watch it pull back the coil
And then spit out a bottle of motor oil
(And when I told them they said) With all your senses always cranked up to 13, 
How could you know what really came out of that cold drink machine?

(chorus) 
                                                           
Gonna tell it to the hands, tell it to the hands

Spoken: There it goes, flap, flap, flap! Yeah! What do you think, hand, are you ready to do something else? Okay, let's do it.

(no chord, clapping) They say people like me have empty souls and no hearts
And blank little minds, we can’t make art
But finally someone believes me, said what they said wasn’t true
But you can’t do it like them, you gotta do it like you
And that’s when I grew

Grew to believe that it was real, that I was real, I wasn’t faking
Grew to believe in all the gorgeous things I could be making, grew to believe it
Grew to believe it, grew to believe me, grew to believe me, yeah
And now I know exactly what all of this was for
‘Cause now it doesn’t matter anymore, anymore

(Final chorus) If I can’t see a thing, ‘cause I know it’s there, I can hear it, feel it, taste it everywhere
That game was rigged, I knew it all along, I might be crazy but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong
That game was rigged, I knew it all along, I might be crazy but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong, no no no no no

Can't See a Thing (live solo acoustic, 2018)

This is the single release which came out on 4/4/19. It has a brand new lead vocal and has been completely remixed and remastered by Andy Harrison. You can purchase it for download on iTunes, normalfaunamusic.com, CDBaby.com, or Google Play Music, and if you have a Spotify or Apple Music account you can add it to your playlist there! Lyrics:

I used to go to Venice Beach in the winter 
With a Thrifty ice cream cone in my hand 
It was hard not to think about the Beach Boys while 
Watching rocky road drip on to the sand 
Those songs made everyone so happy 
Except the guy who composed most of them 
You'd never have caught him dead on a surfboard 
Unless it went through hell and back again, they told me 

(Chorus) Brian Wilson is afraid of the ocean 
He hates the beach, no seriously 
It's so obvious to everyone who knows him 
Plus he said it in his autobiography 
Whoa oh oh oh oh oh 

I went to Los Angeles to look for my brain 
They say it's always in the last place you search 
All my sound files always wound up in the round files 
Didn't know what I was doing on this earth 
But I never got sold down the river 
By my father trying to bleed me dry 
Never had a shrink take over my whole life 
My shrink told me to ask myself why it is that 

(Chorus) 

When Brian Wilson was about 70, he said he 
Conquered one of his oldest fears 
He went with his family to the ocean and swam in it 
For the first time in over 40 years 
I guess if there's a takeaway from this, it's 
Life is set in sand more than set in stone 
And if there's one thing I want to do with music 
It's to let people know they're not alone 
I knew I was not alone the day I found out 

(Chorus)

Brian Wilson Is Afraid Of The Ocean (single)

Lyrics:

Mmmmmm....is there anything that could make you wanna dance
At a time like this, at a time like this
Get caught up in a feeling you can't dismiss
That would make you wanna dance at a time like this
Could anything make you wanna pump your fist
At a time like this, at a time like this
Could there be an impulse you can't resist
That would make you pump your fist at a time like this, mmmmmm

Was there ever a good time just to go and have a good time
Forget everything and drink wine, just kick back
Soaking up sex and sunshine
Now we've gotta get creative, or we're really gonna hate it
Fix it so they can't break it, there's no way to overstate it

And when we do, oh, it's gonna feel so good
Almost more joy than we can stand
We'll float so high above it all
Taking in so much beauty we won't ever want to land

I don't wanna live unless life can be fair
And I wanna help us all get there

So is there anything that could make you wanna dance
At a time like this, at a time like this
Get caught up in a feeling you can't dismiss
That would make you wanna dance at a time like this
Could I do something that would make you wanna dance
At a time like this, at a time like this
I'll keep trying 'til you tell me I can't
Make you wanna, make you wanna, make you wanna dance....mmmmm

I'm watching these hippies in some movie from the '60s
All colorful and giddy, I wanna melt through the screen
So they could be with me
There were things that needed fixin', they had to deal with Nixon
But once the potions kicked in, they had a sweet little world to live in

But I'm not about the good old days, I still think those are yet to be seen
So climb into my hug machine, it'll feel like the best part of being 16

My hands wanna dance and my feet wanna sing
Each body part wants to do its own thing
My ears wanna drink and my tongue wants to sting
Each body part wants to do its own thing

And each part of me loves each part of you
Maybe my body parts are hippies too
So let your hands dance, hands dance
Let your feet sing, feet sing
Tell me if I can bring you anything

Is there anything that could make you wanna dance
At a time like this, at a time like this?

Make You Wanna Dance (downloadable MP3)

Make You Wanna Dance (high quality audio)

Normal Fauna is the recording nym of Andee Joyce, a singer-songwriter on the autism spectrum whose sound has most frequently been compared to Janis Joplin, Adele, Stevie Nicks, and Leonard Cohen.  (No, I'm not making that last one up.) I love words, I love percussion, I love hooks, and I love making what I hope are unique noises with my vocal cords!

Normal Fauna ft. Andee Joyce

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