Lyrics

Planet of a Girl

I’m so tired of feeling lonely, I’m so tired of living in self doubt.
I’ve gotta find a way, gotta find a way to let these feelings out.
I’ve lived here so long this car it drives itself.
I’ve got your songs in my head, got your songs in my head.
Not sure it really helps.

CHORUS:
Well, it’s a long road that we’re on.
And it’s a long way to tonight.
I’m a planet of a girl, I know.
Won’t you be my satellite.

Spend my weekdays, honey, in a cage of glass and steel.
Hoping no one notices, hoping no one notices how I really feel.
When I stop and think about it it just tears me up inside.
I don’t care about the money, I don’t care enough, honey.
Just want to feel alive.

CHORUS

Thought all my life wasn’t fit to be loved.
Don’t care anymore. I’ve had enough.
You can fall into my orbit spin me out of control.
I won’t take anything, honey.
I would leave you whole. I would leave you whole.

A constellation of feelings is what I feel for you.
And if the stars align, if the stars align I’ll know what to do.
Don’t play it cool, darling, it’ll never serve you well.
Take this little piece of heaven, this little piece of heaven’s all I got to sell.

Head In The Sand

Got a round trip ticket to Mars.
It only take a few minutes to get there.
So simple it’s almost bizarre.
And when I go I lose all these little cares.

CHORUS:
Well, I’ve been to outer space.
I need a soft place to land.
I’m just happier over here.
With my head in the sand.
Can we save the human race?
We all just do what we can.
I’m just happier over here.
With my head in the . . . head in the sand.

I can feel the way the wind blow.
And I know what is going on.
But I can’t listen to pundits drone.
When I wanna go out and sound the alarm.

CHORUS

I’d rather stay here on my sofa.
Watch the world burning from up high. (High.)
Play games on my stupid cell phone.
Sleeping happy knowing all men must die.

CHORUS

Got a round trip ticket to Mars.
It only take a few minutes to get there. To get there.

Invisible Ink

Wrote these stories in invisible ink.
Lied to myself about the way I think.
Wish you were here to come and fix me a drink
But our time is long gone.
You were quiet and a little reserved.
I’d boom like thunder; you’d feel unnerved.
I guess this is what I really deserved –
A conclusion too foregone.

CHORUS:
They say the devil’s in the details, in the little ways we hum at night.
He’s in the unsaid words, in the way we look at the same thing
And don’t see it . . . don’t see it just right.

Wrote these stories by the kitchen sink.
Lost my ring down in the drain, I think.
It’s there somewhere. I can tell by the clink,
But it can’t be retrieved.
You know those times when you got it all wrong?
Convinced you’re weak, someone else is strong?
It won’t hurt less if it’s all in a song
But there’s no real relief.

CHORUS

BRIDGE:
I’ve made my bed so I’ll lie in it.
I’ve made my bed I won’t die in it.
I’ve made my bed full of lies. Isn’t it?

Lost those stories, ’cause I never wrote them down.
Never mattered to anyone around.
Now I’m so lost in them, so lost I could drown.
They’re for no one but me.
I would call you if I could get up the nerve.
I’d talk quietly – act all reserved.
Maybe there’s a bit of dust to preserve
But it doesn’t seem likely.

FINAL CHORUS:
They say the devil’s in the details, in the little ways we hum at night.
He’s in the unsaid words, in the way we look at the same thing
And don’t see it . . .
I’ve heard the devil’s in the details, in the little ways we hum at night.
He’s in the unsaid words, in the way we look at the same thing
And don’t see it . . . don’t see it just right.

Tryin’ Too Hard

Should’ve given up by now.
But I can’t let this thing go.
I feel trapped in the ebb but I’m elated by the flow.

I’m older than you think.
So you’d think I’d better know.
If it’s not happened by now then it’s time I let you go.

CHORUS:
‘Cause I’ve been tryin’ too hard to get you to love me.
Tryin’ too hard to get you to care.
I’ve been asking too much of the gods above me.
Tryin’ too hard for a little love to spare.

I tried playing hard to get
But I’m easier than most.
I’m much better in the flesh than I would be as a ghost.

I could be your coy mistress
Or a soldier at her post.
A ship guided by your light, simply hugging your coast.

CHORUS

BRIDGE:
I’m just letting you know.
I’m just letting you know.
I’ll be letting you go.

All I’m receiving is mixed signals.
Can I even hazard a best guess.
If you’re feeling something, honey, time to get it off your chest.

Maybe promise not to call me.
Maybe promise not to text.
I can’t promise you either (but I’ll really try my best).

CHORUS 2X

Shield

It’s so dark here at night and the fog never lifts.
Oh, they’ll drink to your beauty, but they’ll watch you in shifts.
Make your own light, darlin’, don’t rely on them.
They’ll promise you magic, but they’re only men.
Yeah, they’re only men.

CHORUS:
So don’t lose your shield, girl.
Don’t take it for granted.
Don’t leave without it, no matter what you do.
I’ll make my appeal, girl.
I don’t mean to sound ominous.
But if you lost it, you’d just be one of us.

They’ve grown accustomed to your neat little box,
Your eyes flashing mischief, your voice warm and soft.
But when the terror clutches as it is wont to do,
Just know you can always come home to you.
You can come home to you.

CHORUS

Things look bleak sometimes. You’ll be overcome.
Emotions won’t fit the pictures. Seams’ll come undone.
But when the war is over and you think you’ve saved the king
You’ll find a sword is helpful, but it’s not everything.
It can’t be everything.

CHORUS

CODA/NIGUN

A Sunny Day Like This

Wore this dress to your funeral on a sunny day like this.
It didn’t seem that unusual an occasion you just missed.
Like it was all some big mistake
Some frightening dream from which we’d wake.
Wore this dress to your funeral on a sunny day like this.

When you were just a little boy I used to watch you run
Round and round in the sprinklers underneath the same old sun.
Couldn’t catch you if I tried.
Had no wings but you could fly.
When you were just a little boy I used to watch you run.

Hadn’t seen you in a few years you were grown and so was I.
I was living in the city. You were back home in LI.
And we all grew apart it’s true.
Like summer friends so often do.
Hadn’t seen you in a few years you were grown and so was I.

BRIDGE:
This world – it spins so fast. It’s easy to fall down,
To be lured in private moments when nobody’s around,
Into thinking you don’t matter, into feeling overcome.
What’s one more man below the ground?
We just step on everyone.

Wish I knew you as a young man. Would’ve found our way anew.
Would’ve done what I can. Would it be enough for you?
You can’t hold on to someone
Who doesn’t feel the summer sun.
Wore this dress to your funeral on a sunny day like this. (3x)

Reject You First

I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, John.
You were sweet to me and I got it wrong.
I know you thought I hated you.
For a minute, well, I thought that too.
I was feeling like my heart my burst.
So I thought it best to reject you first.

CHORUS:
Reject you first. Seemed easier that way.
Reject you first. Just pretend to go away.
If you could read my mind you’d see.
You’re much better without me.

Life’s never kind to girls like me.
My only instinct is to flee.
Looked back so much I’m a salt pillar.
I’m the Dead Sea to your widower.
You don’t believe me, but I’m cursed.
So I thought it best to reject you first.

CHORUS / INSTRUMENTAL BRIDGE / CHORUS

I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, John.
You were sweet to me and I got it wrong.
If the situation were reversed.
You’d think it best to reject me first.
Can’t bear to sing you another verse.

Everything I Do

Well, I’m something like a shell of who I was.
I pretend at some mirth just because
If you knew what was buried in my heart
I would lose this bit of warmth. I’d fall apart.

CHORUS:
Everything you see . . . everything you see . . .
Is just a falsity . . . is just a falsity.
And everything I do . . . everything I do . . .
Is to get close to you . . . is to get close to you.

In my mind I keep the minutes of our talks
And I guard my desperation like a hawk.
For my effortless cool to take effect
I will plan every word until it’s perfect.

CHORUS

Well, they say there’s other fish in the sea
But I know they’re all dying just like me.
And when you see me you should swim away.
Even little sharks like me don’t come to play.

CHORUS 2X

Touchdown

Saw a stealie on the spare tire of a jeep
From a taxi on the way to JFK.
He leaned over and pointed – a smile on his face.
He said, “Luck’s on our side. Ain’t that always the case?”

CHORUS:
When we touchdown it’ll be okay.
When we touchdown we’re here to stay.
When we touchdown our life begins.
When we touchdown wash away our sins.

One year older and I know he feels it too.
Like a soldier we both lost a friend or two.
But it begins (it begins) to all feel the same.
He says, “Honey, nothing’s lost that can’t be regained.”

CHORUS

BRIDGE:
There are wedding bells chiming from a church on the hill
And it makes me think of our own love story
And the grime falls away as we’re doused by the sea
And see hints of our former glory.

CHORUS

He says, “Love, just look where we are.
The sun is shining over us like our own, private star.
Here we are (here we are) getting baked in the sun.
We’ve both come so far and our time’s just begun.”

CHORUS 2X

Hang on until Then

I play games to remind myself
You can do everything right and still lose.
It’s a sad thing when your hope is lost
And your choices look like nothing you’d ever choose.

CHORUS:
But what I know right now (what I know) is the tides’ll turn again.
And what I need right now (what I need) is to hang on until then.

Every night I drop the mantle
Of a girl made of ice and steel
It’s a hard thing in a workaday world
To remember it matters how you feel.

CHORUS

BRIDGE:
Can’t go to sleep tonight. My nerves are feeling raw.
Anarchy has cloaked himself in robes of the rule of law.
Can anything feel right again? My dread could wake the dead.
Someone picked the locks on Pandora’s box
And tore the world from end to end.

Hold me tight and tell me tales
Of women who kept their flames aglow.
It’s a strange thing when you find yourself
Stumbling down roads you thought you’d know.

CHORUS 2x

Your Way Back When

Saw your picture the other day –
Broken umbrella standing in the rain.
You still smoke cigarettes
And laugh like someone with regrets.
(I didn’t know it then.)

Misspent youth wasted on the young.
Testing boys to find ourselves some fun.
Yaffa Cafe at 3AM.
Tumbling out onto the street again.
(I didn’t know it then.)

CHORUS:
I didn’t know it then.
That I would just be your way back when.
Just be your way back when.
Your old, buried friend.

I still remember what you meant to me –
Dark Montauk roads and a summer breeze.
A broken heart or two.
A teenage crushed pierced through and through.
(I didn’t know it then.)

We used to be like sisters true.
There for each other on nights so blue.
But you decided I
Wouldn’t fit into your finer life.
(I didn’t know it then.)

CHORUS 2x

Somewhere deep you’ve hidden me;
Down in the cellar of your memory.
And if you find me there
Do you pretend I’ve been unfair?

CHORUS

Saw your picture the other day –
Two young women in the subway.
The very best of friends
From years ago, from way back when.
(I didn’t know it then.)

© Golda Schein 2019. All rights reserved.

Summer

I’m falling through the ceiling, man, I’m back here again.
I’m not sure what I want more: to be you or your girlfriend.
But I’m breathing in your lyrics and I’m standing in the rain.
Howling from the back row, I’m singing out your pain.

CHORUS:
Well it’s summer.
I’m at your show again.
Time moves easily.
And I dream in a melody.
In summer
I feel alive again.
I move without a little shove
And the heat feels like love.

Jessica, she says, “Hey, Adam’s chunky again.”
We always loved you more like this
’cause you seem like our friend.
Looking like a rock star – it means nothing to us.
We’re true believers with a 25-year crush.

CHORUS

Miriam, she says, “He’s like a Hebrew school misfit.”
And we picture you like we were, trying hard just to exist. Yeah.
It feels so real to us, like a buried memory.
And then it all crashes and we’re lost in reverie.

I don’t know where I’d be
If I didn’t live with them, they’re songs swirling.
I don’t know ’cause what I want is always fading,
Never sure of what I’m making, I’m just standing here shaking.

CHORUS

Look up girls, I say, “Those clouds are coming so near.”
Then we hear your voice break and it brings us to tears.
I say, “It’s gonna rain and I fear Jones Beach will wash away.”
Summer’s almost gone. We’re not kids anyway.

CHORUS

Secret Girl

You don’t seem to understand
The situation that we’re in.
Holding my hand on seventh street
And dropping it on Lexington
People know more than you think they do.
They can see it in our eyes.
Got a good thing going in the dark.
Our silence bides us time.

CHORUS:
I should be your secret girl
Spending time in your secret world
Just tryin’ to have a little fun
Ain’t tryin’ to be your number one.

Was simpler back when we were friends
Feeling safe in our flirtation.
Guilt didn’t hound our every move.
Could be myself; no reservations.
I’d hang on your every word
Your drunken tales. My little fables.
Wanted you more than I let on.
Wouldn’t say no to you. I wasn’t able.

CHORUS

I wonder when I became so mean
So little and thoughtless I could scream
Can’t be kept, I’m sure you know
I’m touched that you want me
It’d be better if I go.

Knowing looks, we’re thick as thieves,
Conspirators, kept undercover.
We can’t get too comfortable
Looking over each other’s shoulders
But every time you take my arm
And promise me we’ll make this work.
You say, pleasure shouldn’t cause alarm.
And what she doesn’t know won’t hurt.

CHORUS 2X

Dragging You Along

I’m in a kinda panic that I’ve taken you for granted
And I know that you might feel a bit misled
But I love you beyond meaning and this isn’t what it’s seeming
I just can’t seem to get out of my head.
When I met you I was stable, competent, and able
The kind of girl you bring home to your mom.
But lately I’ve been feeling like I’m having trouble dealing
And I hate that I’ve been dragging you along.

CHORUS:
Can’t you see
You mean more than the moon and stars to me?
If you listen hard you’ll hear what I can’t say
But I appreciate you loving me this way

Still get dressed in the morning, singing songs as they are forming
But these little tunes have become so distracting.
It’s a problem that I’m solving though I seem to be devolving
And I hate to think of how I’ve been acting.
There’s a pressure that I’m under when the words come like thunder
And the melodies fall softly into song.
Oh, I know I’ve been quite mental, but please, honey, be gentle.
I still hate that I’ve been dragging you along.

CHORUS

Someday there’ll just be embers of the fires we remember
And now will be like seconds, nothing more.
So can you help me through it? Don’t tell me that I blew it.
Leave me here but never close the door.
Haven’t seen me much lately, though you take it so sedately
You know you’re always where I belong.
So don’t ever doubt my love; you’re still the one I’m dreaming of.
But I hate that I’ve been dragging you along.

CHORUS 2X

© Golda Schein 2017. All rights reserved.

The Hunter and the Deer

I tell myself it’s over. You’re not good for me. I know.
But I forget again and again and now I’m driving through the snow.
Can see these barren trees by day, but at night they disappear.
I thought that I would lead the way and draw you out of here.
And yet I feel like I’m the prey: you’re the forest, I’m the deer.

This affair is so uncivilized and I want to be unbound.
I tell myself it’s time to leave just as you come back around.
Your good time is for lunatics. It’s bedlam when you’re near.
But this power you have over me as you whisper in my ear —
It can stop me in my tracks to see: you’re the headlights, I’m the deer.

I thought I had you all wrapped up around my little finger.
I thought that I would count you in — you’re the band, and I’m the singer.
But my friends all say that it’s so clear you’ve played this game before.
And I’d be a fool to let you in when you’re prowling ’round my door.

There’s a pleasure in this weariness that wraps around each morning.
But my better angels tell me that they’ve given me fair warning.
I’m caught up in your little traps but I never shed a tear.
I know these feet can run so fast and these hands know how to steer.
But I’m no match for what you’ve got: you’re the hunter, I’m the deer.

A Little Luck

I know that something weird’s going on ’cause I’ve been walking around
With relics in my pocket, like a pilgrim’s lost and found.
These bits of bone and sinew can’t help me anyway.
But I thought that with a little luck they might just make you stay.

CHORUS:
But you don’t love me like you used to and I wish it weren’t so.
I don’t have you like I used to and I need to let you go.
Can’t be waiting for the day when you decide to stay.
You don’t love me like you used to and it’s time I made my way.

It feels like there’s an earthquake coming though I think with a little force
I can stop the ground from shifting down and changing up my course.
And though the crust is clearly crumbling and the towers are at my feet
I still think with a little luck you’re coming back to me.

CHORUS

Whenever I reach out to you you still come on command.
But every time you go I feel like I don’t know where I stand.
Can’t tell if it’s in the end for us or it’s the end for me.
But I hope that with a little luck you might just set me free.

CHORUS

Some good fortune would be fine but it turns upon a dime
And it turns again in kind.
A little luck won’t do no harm feels like calm inside the storm
But it never last for long.

I Come Alive

I try to focus on each task
So at work they never ask
Where my mind has been all day.
(It wanders back to you this way.)
It’s a common enough condition —
Spending hours hoping and wishing.
Feels a little self destructive —
But this feeling’s so seductive.

CHORUS:
I come alive when I’m with you
Even though I’m not supposed to.
Won’t depend on it or you.
I come alive when I’m with you.

If I had a different look
Would that be what it took?
If I knew what to say, knew how to act
Would this dream become a fact?
And if I floated like a feather
If I got my act together
If I made myself just right
Would you stay with me tonight?

CHORUS

Draw a picture for me, babe.
Sculpt me out of mud and clay.
Sing a song (don’t sing too fast).
Somehow I know that this won’t last.

I know I play at being cheery
But I’m broken down and weary.
I’m no good at being strong.
I stretch these moments out too long.
Please don’t hear my beating heart.
Please don’t see my wounds and scars.
Please don’t say you’re sorry, dear.
It hurts a little to be this near.

CHORUS 2X

The Waves

We’re floating once again as the waves keep crashing in.
Enveloped by the ocean and the beach’s happy din.
I’d gladly spend the week with you if that’s what you’re askin’.
And tonight we’ll roll in bed with the waves under our skin.

CHORUS:
Oh when I go to sleep tonight I’ll feel the waves, feel the waves.
Oh dreaming as you hold me tight I’ll feel the waves, feel the waves.
The ocean rocks me just like this I feel the waves, feel the waves.
I never want to lose this bliss.

You say I’m good at frolicking, but you don’t know the half.
Been in love with the Atlantic since I was knee-high to your calf.
And I’d gladly paddle out with you on the flimsiest of rafts.
If you promised we could stay here never turn ’round and go back.

CHORUS

It feels a little silly to be this much in love.
Drank enough sangria to fill our hotel tub.
And I’d gladly smoke a joint with you behind these dunes and scrub.
Though it’s clear that you’ve become my very favorite drug.

CHORUS

Well, every adventure meets its end.
And I’d like to think we’ll come here again.
But what I know for sure is we’ll always have
These memories written in the sand.

The summer’s slipping by. I’m so glad we found this place.
It’s our consolation prize for losing the rat race.
And I’d gladly take this undertow and the sunlight on your face
For the subway’s rumbling moan and our frantic city pace.

CHORUS