Ed Marshall played electric guitar on Men and Collide-a-Scope
Dave Noble played electric guitar on Cold Storm and Men
Christian Teele played drums/percussion
Jim Todd played cello on Her House of Sin
Jason Sarubbi played electric and acoustic bass
Vanessa Lowe played acoustic guitar everywhere, electric guitar on Collide-a-Scope, and sang her little heart out
Recorded at Kerr Macy, Denver, Colorado
Engineered by Jeremy Lawton
Additional engineering by Bob Tyler
Mastered by David Glasser at AIRSHOW Mastering, Inc., Boulder, CO
Produced by Vanessa Lowe and Jeremy Lawton
Her House of Sin
Critters are marching on the floor
Lipstick is smeared across the door
She lives in her house of sin
She watched her client run to catch his train
She thinks she is alone until the rain comes in
It happens in her house of sin
She knows everything
She likes laughing at him
She's a quote, "Wanton Woman"
And she likes it that way, yeah
His coat is hanging on the hook
He's hoping that she'll open up her eyes and look
He's vaccuming her house of sin
Everything she wants is on his mind
His hands are shaking as he opens the blinds
The light falls on her face in boxes of gold
He thinks he should touch her, her skin must be so cold
He walks to where she lies upon her bed
He stops and for a moment he is scared she is dead
He keeps cleaning up her house of sin
She knows everything...
She watches him and thinks of all the years
He's come her every week and cleaned up all of her tears
They keep falling in her house of sin
She rises to her feet as he sweeps 'round
They find each other's eyes as the broom hits the ground
She holds him in her house of sin
She knows everyhing
She's not laughing at him
She's no wanton woman
And she likes it that way
February, 1990
Men
I like my men in silence
I like it when they're tidy
I like him purring in my ear
I like when they act sappy
I like it when they're pretty
But I like to be prettier than them
Do you know what makes them so fetching to me
Can you place the wink or the flip of the head
So when he looks away you feel like you've gone dead
It's cool when they act quiet
I wonder what they're thinking
Especially if he's thinking of me
They're fun when they're not moody
when they're not acting pissy
I like them when they're nice to me
Do you know what makes them so fetching to me...
But sometimes I don't want them anywhere near me
I'd like to drop them all to the bottom of the sea
They can all go to hell and I wouldn't miss them
I wouldn't take one if you gave him to me for free
I like my men in togas
I like them with their shoes on
So I can take them out to eat
I like that they are different
And they are very different
I like them when they're not like me
Do you know what makes them so fetching to me...
April, 1995
Here With Me
Tonight
Over ice
Sugary sweet and nice
My arms
‘Round your waist
Fingers are interlaced
I’ve got you here with me
Light
From the street
Velvety summer heat
Breath
Drawn in deep
Sorrow has gone to sleep
I’ve got you here with me
Everybody loses something
Somewhere along the way
Maybe the big trick is knowing
When and when not to stay
Away
Safe
And afraid
Familiar like lemonade
The room
Fills with sun
Something has just begun
I’ve got you here with me
May, 1998
Mona Lisa
Oh that Mona Lisa is such a heavenly creature
and we just want to love her when she’s near
But we know we can’t because she's dead
And we just want to tell her if she's ever in the neighborhood
She should stop by and have a Coke
Oh that Shakespeare dude fills me with attitude
He makes me want to slit my wrists or have a beer
I’m gonna take him home and have him write me a new poem
To make me fall in love with misery
But I know he can’t because he’s dead
And I just want to tell him if he’s ever in the neighborhood
He should stop by and have a Coke
You know Mozart ruled
But he never had a swimming pool
I bet he would have loved a pair of water wings
He wouldn’t have wrote a symphony if he’d have met Tiffany
And spent his precious time in shopping malls
Oh thank God he can’t because he’s dead
And I just want to tell him if he’s ever in the neighborhood
He should stop by and have a Coke
June, 1998
The Only One
There was a pulse
And then a pause
And I appeared
I was the first
I was the last
I was the only one
And then I felt
I was alone
Under the sun
I was the only one
Water and sky
Are all I see
There's no one here
I'm all alone
I cracked myself
And took the flesh
Out of the shell
I was the first
I was the last
I was the only one
There was a cry
I could not tell
Where it was from
I was the only one
'Til I had you
December, 1989
When You Leave
I can’t help what I see
You can’t help what you do
You keep lying
And I keep running from you
But I’m not running away
You’re just running around
All this lying
Makes you well known to the ground
I’ll forget you when I can
I’m out of luck ‘til then
But you’re not my only friend, boy
I won’t be happy when you leave
It’s not the kind of thing
Where it’s done and then I’m free
You can’t take it away
Make it something it’s not
Make it nothing
When you’ve been making a lot
I can’t help how I feel
Like you can’t help what you do
And I’ll go crazy
If I keep lying with you
I’ll forget you when I can...
It happened before
It’ll happen again
But not to me
Because
I’ll forget you when I can...
March, 1998
Honorbound
There was a tiger
And the tiger was forced
To stay inside his lair
To stay inside his lair
He said, "I want to be there with you
Or you can be here with me
But I have to quench my appetites
Or I'll die"
There was a hunter
And the hunter was forced
To stay inside his house
To stay inside his house
He said, "I want to be there with you
Or you can be here with me
But I have to quench my appetites
Or I'll die Or I'll die tonight”
And the land there was free
But the land had its price
The loser could win by the role of the dice
Tiger would take to the high
Hunter would take to the low
And the teeth could take hold
Or the force of the arrow
There was a language
And the language was course
The sounds were often blunt
But honor was its source
It bonded rivals
In the war that took place
By pride they were bound
To the anguish they faced
They said, "I want to be there with you
O r you can be here with me
But I have to quench my appetites
Or I'll die Or I'll die tonight”
March, 1990
Cold Storm
In the garden where we played
All the monsters have gone away
But they followed you home
I saw the night was squeezing closed
And the weapons that we chose
Fade away and cut you
I wanted to be near you
I wanted to save you
To tell you that I love you
And mean it
Be sterling like a true friend
An anchor in a cold storm
When the natives closed you in
I could hear the crashing din
Through the vent in the bathroom
And all the cowboys that we played
And the damsels that we saved
Couldn't heal the hopeless
I wanted to be near you...
I could burrow through the ground
And come up where you needed me
When you needed me
All you have to do
Is just tug on the string
That's hanging out my window
They blew the fairy tales apart
Like a soldier at the start
Of a blinding frenzy
The thorns that came up through the skin
Should have never left within
Where they might have only teased you
I wanted to be near you...
June, 1990
Dizzy
How do you know when you should go
Or if you should leave him
Go away, don't believe him
But never tell him that you love him
Unless you want to go crazy
The whole thing makes me dizzy
Where will you end up if you can't take a stand up
Live a life to the last drop
Fill it up to the top
But never tell him that you love him...
Do you know what you know
Do you say what you mean
Don't play those games with me
I can't take no more
Tell me what you think you want
But only if you're sure
How can you tell if the story will end well
Will you give me the secret
So I'll know how to choose it
'Cause now I never tell him that I love him....
February, 1995.
Man of Minor
It’s the coldest day of winter
Your the warmth that’s left my hands
Your the golden and the gilded
Flashing glint in miner’s pan
You didn’t break in loudly
Nothing stolen like a thief
You didn’t posture proudly
All growling snarly teeth
You're the man of minor
Keys and moods and subtle touch
You meant to meet me softly
Took your time, but not too much
You’re the watchful and the weary
Guardian of the brittle branch
Eager still to find the treasure
The lucky man will take his chance
You didn’t break in loudly...
You’re the one who brought the bounty
A luxury I did not need
The laughing one who rumbles greatly
Quick of wit and slow of speed
You didn’t break in loudly...
I remember suddenly suddenly
I remember asking you to stay
And I remember suddenly suddenly
I remember what you did
You didn’t break in loudly...
February, 1997
3 Years
You know the morning’s fine
It’s just an easy time
The part that sucks is after five
I turn the t.v. on
But it makes me numb
And all I want to do is call
I’ve loved you for 3 years
I’ve loved you in dog years
If you could count my tears
you could count so high
Sometimes the light stays on
Until I see the sun
And I know the day will start to thaw again
I put the coffee up
I turn the radio on
Because the Elliott Smith CDs are gone
I’ve loved you for 3 years...
You know I miss you so much
I may never kiss you again
The hardest thing we could do
I’ve loved you for 3 years...
April, 1998
Collide-a-Scope
I'm stuck in the collide-a-scope
It shifts without a warning sign
It cuts me in a million pieces
I'll never make up my mind
I'm stuck in the collide-a-scope
It turns before I'm on my feet
I'm thrown against the shiny surface
Looking for the rest of me
And all I have to do is smile and call you a wonderful guy
And then I'm back inside my head but I don't want to throw it away
I'm looking for my periscope
So I can see the other side
I'm tired of all the pretty colors
They never help me decide
I'm stuck in the collide-a-scope
It's making me sick to my stomach
Shaking me like I'm a rattle
I give up 'cause there's no hope
And all I have to do is smile and call you a wonderful guy
And then I'm back inside my head but I don't want to throw it away
But all I really do is cry and turn the light out
And when I gave up getting high I lost my way out
black grey blue
crazy purple hue
I want red
at night now
it's turned down low
and muted
it's dying
changing
I want to go home
And all I have to do is smile
May 1995
©1998 Vanessa Lowe (BMI)