the Dalaverse

With all this talk about pairings and canon and whatnot, I...really don't have much to say. I adore reading it, I can and do sit here for hours poring over complicated hashings-out of characterization and passionate defenses of this character/that pairing/this piece of fanon, but when it comes right down to it I don't have a meta-mind, and so I rarely pop my head in to say anything. But then I've never been OTP about anything except Rogue/Logan (in the fandoms in which I've written, anyway), and I've never been as involved in fandom as I've been in PotC (HP? Try breaking into that mother a couple of years late, especially when you write fairly crappy H/D).

My point? I don't have one. I'm just gonna sit here and be quiet until it STOPS FUCKING RAINING. Yeesh. I'm damned tired of getting soaked everytime I set foot outside the dorm.

And I forgot all about my lyrics-posting, so I've got, what, eleven days to catch up, including the first few days of April I missed. Eh, why not, I was making a list of songs in Art History last week. Particular favorite lines italicized just 'cause I can.

April 1:

April, come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain
May, she will stay
Resting in my arms again
June, she’ll change her tune
In restless walks she’ll prowl the night
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight

August, die she must
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold
September, I’ll remember
A love once new has now grown old

--Simon & Garfunkel
(one of the many songs that will never be separate from certain scenes of "The Graduate" in my mind)

April 2:

The last time I saw Richard was Detroit in ’68
And he told me all romantics meet the same fate someday
Cynical and drunk and boring someone in some dark cafe
You laugh, he said, you think you’re immune, go look at your eyes
They’re full of moon
You like roses and kisses and pretty men to tell you
All those pretty lies, pretty lies
When you gonna realise they’re only pretty lies
Only pretty lies, just pretty lies

He put a quarter in the wurlitzer, and he pushed
Three buttons and the thing began to whirr
And a bar maid came by in fishnet stockings and a bow tie
And she said drink up now it’s gettin’ on time to close.
Richard, you haven’t really changed, I said
It’s just that now you’re romanticizing some pain that’s in your head
You got tombs in your eyes, but the songs
You punched are dreaming
Listen, they sing of love so sweet, love so sweet
When you gonna get yourself back on your feet?
Oh and love can be so sweet, love so sweet

Richard got married to a figure skater
And he bought her a dishwasher and a coffee percolator
And he drinks at home now most nights with the tv on
And all the house lights left up bright
I’m gonna blow this damn candle out
I don’t want nobody comin’ over to my table
I got nothing to talk to anybody about
All good dreamers pass this way some day
Hidin’ behind bottles in dark cafes
Dark cafes
Only a dark cocoon before I get my gorgeous wings
And fly away
Only a phase, these dark cafe days

--Joni Mitchell


April 3:

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well baby, I’ve been here before
I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor
You know, I used to live alone before I knew you
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah

Well there was a time when you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show that to me, do you?
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah

Well maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah

--Leonard Cohen

(I know there are a couple different verses floating around out there, but the ones sung by Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright are the ones I'm used to)

April 4:

So be it, I’m your crowbar
If that’s what I am so far
Until you get out of this mess
And I will pretend
That I don’t know of your sins
Until you are ready to confess

But all the time, all the time
I’ll know, I’ll know

And you can use my skin
To bury secrets in
And I will settle you down
And at my own suggestion
I will ask no questions
While I do my thing in the background

But all the time, all the time
I’ll know, I’ll know

Baby, I can’t help you out
While she is still around

So for the time being, I’m being patient
And amidst this bitterness
If you’ll just consider this
Even if it don’t make sense
All the time, give it time

And when the crowd becomes your burden
And you’ve early closed your curtains
I’ll wait by the backstage door
While you try to find the lines to speak your mind
And pry it open, hoping for an encore
And if it gets too late for me to wait
For you to find you love me, and tell me so
It’s okay, don’t need to say it

--Fiona Apple

Skipping to:

April 7:

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around

Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around

We talk about it all night long
We define our moral ground
But when I crawl into your arms
Everything comes tumbling down

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around

Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When I must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around

Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around

--Nick Cave
(Heather Nova substitutes "darling" for "baby. I never realized that before. And yes, it's the best Sparrington song ever, in my opinion.)

April 8:

The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison's singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again

Don't run back inside
Darling ,you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me

You can hide `neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets

Well now I'm no hero
That's understood
All the redemption I can offer, girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now

Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow back your hair
Well the night's busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back
Heaven's waiting on down the tracks

Oh oh come take my hand
Riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh oh Thunder Road, oh Thunder Road
oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold
Thunder Road

Well I got this guitar
And I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back
If you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
And I know you're lonely
For words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free
All the promises'll be broken

There were ghosts in the eyes
Of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind, so Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win

--Bruce Springsteen

April 9:

The rope that's wrapped around me
Is cutting through my skin
And the doubts that have surrounded me
Are finding their way in
I keep it close to me
Like a holy man prays
In my desperate hour
It's better, better that way

So I'll come by and see you again
I'll be such a very good friend
Have mercy on my soul
I will never let you know
Where my mind has been

Angels never came down
There's no one here they want to hang around
But if they knew
If they knew you at all
Then one by one the angels
Angels would fall

I've crept into your temple
I have slept upon your pew
I've dreamed of the divinity
Inside and out of you
I want it more than truth
I can taste it on my breath
I would give my life just for a little, a little death

So I'll come by and see you again
I'll be just a very good friend
I will not look upon your face
I will not touch upon your grace
Your ecclesiastic skin

Angels never came down
There's no one here they want to hang around
But if they knew
If they knew you at all
Then one by one the angels
Angels would fall

I'll come by and see you again
I'll have to be a very good friend
If I whisper they will know
I'll just turn around and go
You will never know my sin

Angels never came down
There's no one here they want to hang around
But if they knew
If they knew you at all
Then one by one the angels
Angels would fall

--Melissa Etheridge
(I'm a sucker for religious/romantic imagery)

April 10:

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He says, "Son, can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes"

La la la de de da
La la de de da da dum

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feelin' alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be

He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."
As the smile ran away from his face
"Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place"

Oh, la la la de de da
La la de de da da dum

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinkin' alone

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been comin' to see
To forget about life for a while

And the piano, it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, "Man, what are you doin' here?"

Oh la la la de de da
La la de de da da dum

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright

--Billy Joel

April 11:

This is the original song written for the 2003 Valentine's Day episode of "American Dreams," written and performed by guest star Warren Sroka. I've never been able to figure out its title exactly -- I call it "Another American Folk Song."

The days are getting shorter, the wind has found her teeth
I think I'm supposed to be somewhere back east
And I drive, alone with my mind
Fighting thoughts of this kind
And in the darkness of these naked empty streets
I'm free, to just breathe

She said I'm the king of random phone calls
I explained it's just this time of year
These awkward conversations, these constant isolations
And this town
Is bringing me down

Just another American folk song
Written for another American girl
Just another American dreamer
Just another American fall

So drop me a line, oh, if you can find the time
I'd love to hear just where you've ended up
'Cause happiness rests at your door
Do you ever think about us anymore?

Just another American folk song
Written for another American girl
Just another American dreamer
Just another American fall

So bogged down with this flesh and bone
I'm not supposed to feel quite this alone
Amidst this clutter, watch me stutter step and fall
I haven't the strength to get back up
'Cause I am empty, floating loveless
Cut me and I'll bleed only dust

Just another American folk song
Written for another American girl
Just another American dreamer
Just another American fall

--Warren Sroka

(Yeah. So that's my favorite song no one's ever heard.)

April 12:

I went out walking
Through streets paved with gold
Lifted some stones
Saw the skin and bones
Of a city without a soul
I went out walking
Under an atomic sky
Where the ground won't turn
And the rain it burns
Like the tears when I said goodbye

Yeah I went with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering

I went drifting
Through the capitals of tin
Where men can't walk
Or freely talk
And sons turn their fathers in
I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they don't want God in it

I went out riding
Down that old eight lane
I passed by a thousand signs
Looking for my own name

I went with nothing
But the thought you'd be there too
Looking for you

I went out there
In search of experience
To taste and to touch
And to feel as much
As a man can
Before he repents

I went out searching
Looking for one good man
A spirit who would not bend or break
Who would sit at his father's right hand
I went out walking
With a bible and a gun
The word of God lay heavy on my heart
I was sure I was the one
Now Jesus, don't you wait up
Jesus, I'll be home soon
Yeah I went out for the papers
Told her I'd be back by noon

Yeah I left with nothing
But the thought you'd be there too
Looking for you

Yeah I left with nothing
Nothing but the thought of you
I went wandering

--U2
(with vocals featuring JOHNNY CASH)

And as for today? Suppose I'll offer up the saddest song I've ever heard, written by Patty Griffin from the point of view of her dying grandfather. Saddest. Song. Ever.

April 13:

I wished I was smarter
Wished I was stronger
I wished I loved Jesus
The way the my wife does

I wished it'd been easier
Instead of any longer
I wished I could've stood
Where you would've been proud
That won't happen now
That won't happen now

There's a whole lot of sinners
That ain't gonna be heard
Disppearing every day
Without so much as a word
Somehow

Think I broke the wings
Off that little songbird
And she's never gonna fly
To the top of the world right now
To the top of the world

I don't have to answer
Any of these questions
Don't have no guide to
Teach me no lessons

I come home in the evening
Sit in my chair
One night they called me for supper
But I never got up
I stayed right there
In my chair

There's a whole lot of singing
That ain't gonna be heard
Disappearing every day
Without so much as a word
Somehow

I think I broke the wings
Off a little songbird
And she's never gonna fly
To the top of the world right now
To the top of the world

I wished I'd had known you
Wished I had shown you
All of the things I
Was on the inside
But I'd pretend to be sleeping
When you'd come in in the morning
To whisper goodbye
Go work at the rain
I don't know why
Don't know why

Cause everyone's singing
We just wanna be heard
Disappearing every day
Without so much as a word
So how?

Gonna grab ahold
Of that little songbird
And take her for a ride
To the top of the world
Right now
To the top of the world
To the top of the world
To the top of the world
To the top of the world