SONGS TO Loibner-Waitkus ANALYZE
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Table of Contents Note on Punctuation by Allen Loibner-Waitkus..................................... 4 “Workin’ in Corners” by Nanci Griffith.................................................... 5 “Home” by Lisa Hannigan....................................................................... 7 “Red Dirt Girl” by Emmylou Harris......................................................... 8 “Little Bombs” by Aimee Mann............................................................. 10 “Unplayed Piano” by Damien Rice & Lisa Hannigan........................... 12 “Coffee” by Amelia Meath & Nick Sanborn.......................................... 14 Sources.................................................................................................. 17
The Artists
THE PERFORMERS: (Clockwise) Nanci Griffith, Lisa Hannigan, Emmylou Harris, Sylvan Esso, Damien Rice & Aimee Mann
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Note on Punctuation
Because songs are intended to be listened to rather than read, most websites and liner notes don’t include punctuation. To make it easier for students to understand the lyrics of these songs, I have added most of the punctuation included in this handout. –ALW
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Workin’ in Corners
NANCI GRIFFITH
Well, it’s a southern road west of New Orleans, And I’m a-fightin’ off a cold From these winter rounds. Houston, She’s just around the corner, Hey, I think I’ll stop off here in Lafayette, Lord, and have me another round. ‘Cause I’ve been workin’ in corners all alone at night, Pullin’ down whiskey, Keepin’ my eyes away from the lights. I’ll never be a fool, but I will gamble foolishly. Oh, I never let go of love Till I lost it in my dreams. And I’m stronger now. There was a man in my hometown. He sang so pretty I’m glad he turned my head around, But I’d forgotten how to play a one-night stand. Lord, I didn’t have a word to say, Just holdin’ a stranger’s hand. ‘Cause I’ve been workin’ in corners all alone at night, Pullin’ down whiskey, Keepin’ my eyes away from the lights. I’ll never be a fool, but I will gamble foolishly. Oh, I never let go of love Till I lost it in my dreams.
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I don’t want to go to sleep ‘Cause I just might dream. And these city streets at five in the morning, I would’ve stopped to phone you, But I’m almost home. At my back door, There’s a porch light that’s shining. Hey, I just don’t mind livin’ here by myself If I leave it on. ‘Cause I’ve been workin’ in corners all alone at night, Pullin’ down whiskey, Keepin’ my eyes away from the lights. I’ll never be a fool, but I will gamble foolishly. Oh, I never let go of love Till I lost it in my dreams. I don’t want to go to sleep ‘Cause I just might dream. I don’t want to go to sleep ‘Cause I sure can dream. You know I sure can dream, And I sure can dream. You know I sure can dream.
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Home
LISA HANNIGAN
Home, so far from home, So far to go, And we’ve only just begun, And, oh, every lie we told Is written in stone. Every lie we wrote in our bones. And hold on. There’s nothing to pack. Oh, we know we’re not coming back. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! And, oh, every promise that we broke Is sewn to our clothes. Now we are pinned to the wind I suppose, And, oh, every falling flake of snow Has to give in, Oh, but we spin and we spin and we spin. And hold on. There’s nothing to pack. Lay your heart out. We’re not coming back. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! Hold on. There’s nothing to pack. Lay your heart out. We’re not coming back. We’re not coming back.
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Red Dirt Girl
EMMYLOU HARRIS
Me and my best friend—Lillian— And her blue tick hound dog Gideon Sittin’ on the front porch, cooling in the shade, Singin’ every song the radio played, Waitin’ for the Alabama sun to go down. Two red-dirt girls in a red-dirt town, Me and Lillian, Just across the line and a little southeast of Meridian. She loved her brother. I remember back when He was fixin’ up a ‘49 Indian. He told her, “Little Sister, gonna ride the wind Up around the moon and back again.” He never got farther than Vietnam. I was standin’ there with her when the telegram come For Lillian. Now he’s lyin’ somewhere about a million miles from Meridian. She said there’s not much hope for a red-dirt girl. Somewhere out there is a great big world. That’s where I’m bound, And the stars might fall on Alabama, But one of these days I’m gonna swing My hammer down Away from this red-dirt town. I’m gonna make a joyful sound. She grew up tall, and she grew up thin,
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Buried that old dog Gideon By a crepe myrtle bush at the back of the yard. Her daddy turned mean, and her mama leaned hard. Got in trouble with a boy from town, Figured that she might as well settle down, So she dug right in Across a red-dirt line just a little southeast of Meridian. She tried hard to love him, but it never did take. It was just another way for the heart to break, So she dug right in. One thing they don’t tell you about the blues When you got ‘em: You keep on falling ‘cause there ain’t no bottom. There ain’t know end, At least not for Lillian Nobody knows when she started her skid. She was only twenty-seven, and she had five kids. Could have been the whiskey. Could have been the pills. Could have been the dream she was trying to kill, But there won’t be a mention in the news of the world About the life and the death of a red-dirt girl Named Lillian, Who never got any farther across the line than Meridian. Now the stars still fall on Alabama. Tonight she finally laid That hammer down Without a sound In the red-dirt ground.
, n a i i p ier d ssip i M iss M
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Little Bombs From the twenty-second floor, Walking down the corridor, Looking out the picture window down On Sycamore. While perspective lines converge, Rows of cars and buses merge. All the sweet green trees of Atlanta burst, Like little bombs Or little pom-poms, Shaken by a careless hand That drives them off And leaves again. Life just kind of empties out, Less a deluge than a drought, Less a giant mushroom cloud Than an unexploded shell Inside a cell Of the Lennox Hotel. On the twenty-second floor, Found a notice on my door While outside the sun is shining on Those little bombs, Those little pom-poms.
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AIMEE MANN
Life just kind of empties out, Less a deluge than a drought, Less a giant mushroom cloud Than an unexploded shell Inside a cell Of the Lennox Hotel, Inside a cell Of the Lennox Hotel, Inside a cell Of the Lennox Hotel, Inside a cell Of the Lennox Hotel.
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Unplayed Piano
DAMIEN RICE & LISA HANNIGAN
Come and see me, Sing me to sleep. Come and free me, Or hold me if I need to weep. Maybe it’s not the season, Or maybe it’s not the year. Maybe there’s no good reason Why I’m locked up inside Just ‘cause they wanna hide me. The moon goes bright, The darker they make my night. Unplayed pianos Are often by a window In a room where nobody loved goes. She sits alone with her silent song. Somebody bring her home. An unplayed piano (Unplayed piano) Still holds a tune. (Still holds a tune) Lock on the lid (Years, years pass by) In stale, stale room. (In the changing of the moon) Maybe it’s not that easy, (Tiny window)
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Or maybe it’s not that hard. (In a stale, stale room) Maybe they could release me. (Stale, stale room) Let the people decide. I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ve done nothing wrong, So why have I been here so long? Unplayed pianos Are often by a window In a room where nobody loved goes. She sits alone with her silent song. Can somebody bring her home? An unplayed pianos Are often by a window In a room where nobody loved goes. She sits alone with her silent song. Somebody bring her home. Unplayed piano (Play her tune) Still holds a tune. (Bring her home) Years pass by (Mmmmmm) In the change of the moon.
Aung San Suu Kyi
POLITICAL PRISONER: Winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945)—politician, diplomat, and author—spent fifteen of twentyone years between 1989 and 2010 as a political prisoner held by a military junta in Burma (now Myanmar). After being released, she helped bring democracy to Myanmar, and in 2012 became State Counselor of Myanmar (the equivalent of president or prime minister in other democracies) by a landslide, and has remained state counselor since.
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Coffee True. It’s a dance. We know the moves: The bow, the dip, the woo. Though the words are true, The state is old news. Wrap me In your arms. I can’t feel it, but... Rock me In your arms. I can’t feel it, but... Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Feel the turn of rotation and stop. See the next one waiting. Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Get up. Sentiment’s the same, But the pair of feet change. I know my words will dry upon the skin Just like a name I remember hearing. Wild winter. Warm coffee.
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SYLVAN ESSO
Mom’s gone. Do you love me? Blazing summer. Cold coffee. Baby’s gone. Do you love me? Wrap me In your arms. I can’t feel it, but... Rock me In your arms. I can’t feel it, but... Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Feel the turn of rotation and stop. See the next one waiting. Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Get up. Sentiment’s the same, But the pair of feet change. Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Feel the turn of rotation and stop. See the next one waiting. Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Get up. Sentiment’s the same, But the pair of feet change. My baby does the hanky-panky, My baby does. My baby does the hanky-panky, My baby does. My baby does the hanky-panky, (Wrap me In your arms. I can’t feel it, but...) My baby does. My baby does the hanky-panky, (Rock me In your arms. I can’t feel it, but...) My baby does.
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Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Feel the turn of rotation and stop. See the next one waiting. Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Get up. Sentiment’s the same, But the pair of feet change. Get up, get down. (And we’ll all run out!) Get up. See the next one waiting. Get up, get down. Get up, get down. Get up. Sentiment’s the same, But the pair of feet change.
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Sources Griffin, Nanci. “Workin’ in Corners.” One Fair Summer Evening, performed by Nanci Griffith and
the Blue Moon Orchestra, MCA Nashville, 1988, music.apple.com/us/album/wor
kin-in-corners/1443474231?i=250243. Hannigan, Lisa. “Home.” Passenger, produced by Joe Henry, ATO Records, 2011, music.apple. com/us/album/home/1053845576?i=1053845581. Harris, Emmylou. “Red Dirt Girl.” Red Dirt Girl, Nonesuch, 2000, music.apple.com/us/album/ red-dirt-girl/72787298?i=72787252. Mann, Aimee. “Little Bombs.” The Forgotten Arm, produced by Joe Henry, SuperEgo Records,
2005, music.apple.com/us/album/little-bombs/551474056?i=551474368.
Meath, Amelia, and Nick Sanborn. “Coffee.” Sylvan Esso, performed by Sylvan Esso, Partisan
Records, 2014, music.apple.com/us/album/coffee/805003218?i=805003236
Rice, Damien, and Lisa Hannigan. “Unplayed Piano.” Unplayed Piano (EP), Chris Lord-Alge Mix,
DRM, 2005, music.apple.com/us/album/unplayed-piano-chris-lord-alge-mi
/68056047?i=68055952.
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lw
LOIBNER-WAITKUS
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