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Lyrics to songs by Stephanie Rearick. Lyrics are sorted by album.
Ladyscissors lyrics are here.
every thing everything
Stephanie Rearick - every thing everything

Whenever You're Alive
Down Down Down
The Book
Make Believe
Giving Presents
Everyone Singing

Recorded and produced by Ed Reardon. Recorded at 14 Lonely Studios, mixed at Big Recording Studio, Vienna. Released May 2015.
Dreamworld
Stephanie Rearick Jr. - Dreamworld
Buy it here

Ado
I Can Hear You
What You Want
Skin
An Ordinary Day
Rain (Hymn Jr.)
Impossible
A Free-For-All

Recorded, engineered and produced by Jon Hain and Stephanie Rearick at 14 Lonely Studios January - April 2013, released May 10 2013.
Up The Wall
Stephanie Rearick - Up The Wall
Buy it here

Oh No
Up the Wall
Who Are You?
Lithe and Blithe
Pretty Lights
Evening Sun

Up The Wall was recorded in November 2010 by Edward Reardon at 14 Lonely Studios in Madison, except "The Turnaround" and "Lithe & Blithe." Late to the party yet very welcome, those were recorded in spring 2011 by Edward Reardon at Big Recording Studio in Chicago. Everything was produced by Edward Reardon. Mastering by Brian Daly at DNA Studios.
Democracy
Stephanie Rearick - Democracy
Buy it here

Flyboy
Motorcade
Nothing New
Night
Democracy (Leonard Cohen)
Across the Universe (Lennon/McCartney)
Cosmos and Asters
Dear Shadow
In the Rain
Birthright
Man who Stole Tomorrow
Native Tongue
You Don't Know
sonnet entitled how to run the world) (poem by e.e. cummings)

Democracy was recorded over a period of several months during the winter of 2006/2007. All of the tracking was done by Stephanie Rearick at 14 Lonely Studios except Man who Stole Tomorrow and sonnet entitled how to run the world), which were both recorded by Ed Reardon at Big Recording Studio. All mixing was done by Stephanie Rearick except: Flyboy, Nothing New, Birthright and sonnet, which were mixed by Ed Reardon at Big; and Democracy, which was mixed by Jon Hain at 14 Lonely Studios and Ed Reardon at Big. Mastering by Brian Daly at DNA Studios.
Star Belly
Stephanie Rearick - Star Belly
Buy it here

Hymn
Star Belly
Disease
Twilight Fog
Your Foolish Heart
DreemyCream
Fantastic Voyage (Bowie/Eno)
Roll Over
Soldier's Things (Tom Waits)
Long Picnic (reprise) - poem by Russell Edson
Arms
ish

Star Belly was recorded over several sessions over about a six-month period. Disease and ish survived the first session, Stephanie recording and engineering at 14 Lonely Studios. Ed Reardon recorded the most rest of the tracks at 14 Lonely in the late Fall of 2004, Wendy Bugatti recorded Long Picnic (reprise) at Coney Island (live on a Boss Loopstation), and Rearick and Jon Hain recorded Roll Over after everything else. All mixing was done by Rearick, with some assistance by Hain, at 14 Lonely Studios. Mastering by Brian Daly at DNA Studios.
The Bucket Rider
Bucket Rider

Buy it here

Ghostlike
My Lizard
Tiny Hairs
The Bucket Rider
Secret
Single Scarlet Thread
These Birds
Buster Moon
Clyde
Lamentation
I Need Sunflowers!
L'Inhumaine I - III
Ghost

The Bucket Rider was recorded by Stephanie Rearick at her home in Madison, WI, using ProTools LE and a Mac, except Single Scarlet Thread was recorded by Steve Gotcher at Audio for the Arts. Songs recorded at Rearick's house were played on her 1990 Knight upright piano. Singing was done in the bathroom, sometimes in the tub (not while bathing). Trumpet in the kitchen. All songs were produced and engineered by Rearick, with Joey Zarda throwing in a little assistance during the recording process and Jon Hain assisting in production of These Birds. The recording was done over about a week period, with mixing going on for about the next 3 or 4 months. This is Rearick's first solo engineering effort.
Coma Savant
Coma
Savant
Buy it here


Coma Savant
Bloan
Theme from 'Jesus'
Uncle Runkle
Baker St.
Ferris Wheel
Tea In The Park
Eating Machine
Dancer
Cardboard Coffin
Indian Summer
Charlie

Released in April, 2002
         Jon Hain :: Guitar
       Joey Zarda :: Bass Guitar
      Jason Socha :: Drums and Cymbals
Stephanie Rearick :: Keyboard, Piano, Trumpet


This CD showcases Stephanie Rearick's piano based songwriting in a garage-rock-cabaret setting. The band rocks, when appropriate and brings to life the wild stories and imagery of Rearick's writing. Excellent production and a relaxed recording environment helped create what will certainly be viewed as an accurate snapshot of The Coma Savants in the fall of 2001.

Here's all the nitty-gritty about who did what to put this CD together

(tracks 2 -5, 6, 10)
Recorded by Edward Reardon at Broken Horsey Studios, New Berlin, WI. Mixed by Edward Reardon at Big Recording Studio, Chicago, Il. Produced by Edward Reardon and The Coma Savants. Additional support by Jenny's home cooking. Also, that's Ed "word" Reardon on Synth on Bloan and Mike Hagedorn on trombone on Baker St.

Coma Savant -- Words and Music by The Coma Savants. Recorded in the basement. Produced and mixed by The Coma Savants at Mondo Oakdale, Chicago, IL.

Stephanie wrote darn near all the songs with Jon helping out on Jesus and Joey doing Charlie all by himself.



Ferris Wheel and Charlie :: Recorded by Jeff Kowalkowski at Splinter Group, Chicago, IL. Mixed by Jon Hain with Jenny Hanson assisting at Mondo Oakdale, Chicago, IL. Produced by Jon Hain and the Coma Savants. That's Joey Zarda on accordion.



Additional treatments by The Coma Savants at 14 Lonely Studios, Madison. WI

All songs arranged and performed by The Coma Savants except as noted.

The Long Picnic
Long Picnic
Buy it here

Folk Tune
Not Another Minute
Elegy
Wading
Boating (Bela Bartok)
The Man Who Stole Tomorrow
Morpha Too (Alex Chilton)
Bagatelle
The Long Picnic (words by Russell Edson) Cosmic
The Long Picnic was recorded and engineered by Studio Earth Remote recording and Big Recording Studio, produced by Stephanie Rearick with help from Jim Newhouser (Studio Earth) and Edward Reardon (Big). Released September 11, 2001.
Lizards & Stars
Puppy
Buy it here

Circular Reasoning
Jeopardy
Fiberglass Panites
Happy-Go-Lucky
Culty's
Erotomania
Wading
14
Lizards & Stars
Out Of Breath
Sleepless Years
Tida
Tearing And Merging


------
Released in 1997 on Fish-Eye Records.

Stephanie Rearick :: Keyboard, Piano, Trumpet
Jon Hain :: Guitar
Joey Zarda :: Bass Guitar
Jeff Scott :: Percussion
John Driscoll :: Drums

Recorded at Optisonic by Brian Daly over Memorial Day Weekend in 1997.

Since
© 2023, Stephanie Rearick
When the world turns around
And it spins on its head
And we're singing a song
You could never forget
How I loved her

And her mouth fills up full
With a chattering mass
And I almost forget what
The words were way back
When I loved her

And my voice makes a sound 
Like a shattering glass
And I almost forget
How it sounded way back
When I loved her

When I loved her

I swear on my life
I will never forget
How you looked when you said
It's been a long time since I loved her

Since I loved her
back to top

Baby Brother
© 2021, Stephanie Rearick
This border is
Irrelevant
Malevolent

On your ma
And your pa
And your baby brother

An outer ring
Developing
Enveloping

All your ma
And your pa
And your baby brother
Baby brother
back to top

Devotional
© 2014, Stephanie Rearick
In a dusty corner
of the living room of love
You'll find a tiny little spider
on an even smaller bug

and you'll ask
What kind of devotion
has spawned an act like that?
And you'll make nothing
of the mystery
This bug is on its back

Its eyes possess a sparkle
that even starlight lacks

	And now, that's not to say
	this light is the only one
	or the brightest spark

An ember catches,
sets you burning,
So much brighter
So much hotter

Sounding from the corridor
the tap tap tap
of dripping water
back to top

Six of One
© 2014, Stephanie Rearick
Whoever cared before?
Whoever cared since?
It's half a dozen pianos and
the other six synths

Whoever cared before?
Whoever cared since?
It's half a dozen pianos and
the other six synths

I tried to tell you
some great notion
Thought I'd take you 
out in style

Orchestrate some
forward motion
See you happy 
for awhile

away the
	while
		away the 
			while
back to top

Whenever You're Alive
© 2014, Stephanie Rearick
You're stirring
Your newborn dream's been squirming
Now you could say
it leaps and sparkles
like a waterfall
	cascades down the rocks and hits the bottom

If you have ears to hear
If you have eyes to see
Wherever you are here
Whenever you are free

It's bound to hurt your pride
You've got a lot at stake
Whenever you're alive
Whenever you're awake


If you have ears to hear
If you have eyes to see
Wherever you are here
Whenever you are free

It's bound to hurt your pride
You've got a lot at stake
Whenever you're alive
Whenever you're awake
	up sleepy dreamer will you
	wake up sleepy dreamer will you 
	dance?

It's bound to hurt your pride
You've got a lot at stake
Whenever you're alive
Whenever you're awake
	up sleepy dreamer will you
	wake up sleepy dreamer will you 
	dance?

Whenever you're alive
Whenever you're awake
	up sleepy dreamer will you
	wake up sleepy dreamer will you 
	wake up sleepy dreamer will you 
	wake up sleepy dreamer will you? 
back to top

Down Down Down
© 2014, Stephanie Rearick
When they say they've come to shoot you
get down and down and down and down

When the music flows right through you 
get down and down and down and down

Why don't you hear your mother there
yelling 'what's the matter'
you're down and down and down and down

You're waiting on the kisses 
that always make it better
you're down and down and down and down

When the funnel blows right to you
get down and down and down and down

when the holy spirit moves you
get down and down and down and down

and when you hear the weatherman cursing at the weather
you're down and down and down and down

but wading in the water 
will only make you wetter
you're down and down and down and down

I remember days
whenever I'd hear your voice
I'd get so carried away
I tell ya it wasn't wise
I knew then but too late,
I adored you
whatever way
it went down it may
leave me cryin' and singing and playin piano-o
 

but when you hear the weatherman 
talking up the weather
get down and down and down and down
He's waiting on the kisses
that always make it better
get down and down and down and down
   
I could see a time
in order to hear your voice
I would stop
turn on a dime
and offer a joyful noise
 
I could name the ways
that I adore you
but anyway
I did yesterday
now I'm crying and singing and playing piano-o

but when you see the weatherman
clearing up the weather
get down and down and down and down
You're waiting on the kisses
that always make it better
get down and down and down and down

And when you see your mother there
yelling 'what's the matter'
get down and down and down and down
Cuz walking on the water 
will always make you wetter
get down and down and down and down
back to top

The Book
© 2014, Stephanie Rearick
I had a look at what was dead
It was black and white and
re(a)d all over,
very scary

I wrote the book on in my head
I had a look at what was dead
It was black and white and
red and wet like
sour cherry

I had a look on in my head
I wrote a book and it was read
Rub the snow off of the globe
See the fairies
making merry

And now you know the scene
And now you've seen the being
Don't just stand there being,
all like
extra ordinary
back to top

Make Believe
© 2014, Stephanie Rearick
And in the end
You'll know
What you wanted to be

And we're all letting go
And we all wait and see

You made believe 
it could be
We made believe
it could, too

And we all wait and see
And we all read the truth
In the waves of the sea
In the light of the moon

You made believe 
it could be
We made believe 
it was true

And we all wait and see
And we all come unglued
And we all make believe
And we all speak the truth

You make believe 
it could be
We make believe 
and it's true

We make believe
back to top

Giving Presents
© 2014, Stephanie Rearick
I cannot know you
I only see you
I cannot see me
I only know --
	meander slowly and
	remember easily and
	Time is a river
		sliding
			into the
	
		sea
	
what you will see
you're the only one to
know what you will know
and the only one to 
be what you will be
and the only one to
sow what you will sow

Is it really all a

Go where you can go
it's the only way to 
know what you can know

and it's really all aglow

If we see another day
I will read your mind
If we see another day
We're still dreaming

If we see another day
You will read my mind
If we see another day
We're still dreaming now

We always knew to play
It helped us hear the call
We toasted to the day
We always had it all
We toasted to the day
We always had it all
We always had it all
back to top

Everyone Singing
© 2014, Stephanie Rearick
Every petal of every flower singing
Every bell that can be rung is ringing

We find our voices when they reach your ears
We hear our calling when we face our fears

Listen to the chorus of life
singing sweetly
in your heartbeat

The words find their meaning
with everyone singing

The words find their meaning 
with everyone singing

The words find their meaning
with everyone singing
back to top

Ado
© 2012, Stephanie Rearick
In a dream world
There's a dream boy and girl
And their dreams
come true
in two different worlds

Over there
Over there
Noone bids
or pays them
ado
much ado
back to top

I Can Hear You
© 2012, Stephanie Rearick
I can feel you at night
when there's noone around

I can find you in time when
there's none to be found

I can find you

I can hear you at night 
when the light is all gone

I can hear you

In the time when there's 
no find in found

I can find you

I can see you when 
nobody's looking at all

I can see you when
nobody's watching at all
back to top

What You Want
© 2012, Stephanie Rearick
I want you to do
What you want to do

If it's really 
what I dream of for you


I want you to do
What you want to do 

If I want you to do
What you want to do 


I want you to do
What you want to do

If it's really 
what I dream of for you
back to top

Skin
© 2011, Stephanie Rearick
Go away
and I don't wanna miss you
Say goodbye
I don't wanna wanna kiss you

Sometimes I don't know why
we're apart
or in this place and time

And time again I wonder
who you are
you a friend of mine?

In this world
we always want
what we can't get
You'll have no trouble 
fitting in

I get it

Don't let it
don't let it
don't let it get you
Don't let it
don't let it
don't let it 
get under your skin

There's one way to 
skin an onion
Just one way to 
skin an onion
There's one way to 
skin an onion

Peel the layers
one by one until
you reach the bottom
of its heart

The bottom of its heart

Don't let it 
don't let it 
don't let it get you
Don't let it 
don't let it
don't let it
get under your skin
back to top

An Ordinary Day
© 2011, Stephanie Rearick
I didn't mind
giving you the
best of my time
An ordinary day

What's yours is mine
Not right or wrong but
it just always seems
to go that way

Can't you see
it's loverly
What you really mean to me

(orange leaves 
blazing
red moon)

And I didn't mind
offering the
rest of my life
Another day in May

You're standing by
and watching while the
late November leaves
all blow away

Look over there
They're everywhere
In your clothes and
in your hair

It's only a dream
You'll wake up soon

You wouldn't give
Your love
Your life
You long
for an ordinary day

What you wouldn't give
Your love
Your life
Your longing

For an ordinary day

What you wouldn't give
for an ordinary day

Your love
Your life
Your longing
back to top

Rain (Hymn Jr.)
© 2012, Stephanie Rearick
Magnificent
is what the word is for these days
Beneficent
in what it means and what it says
it will be
what it wants to be
after all
is said and done

And what you are
is what you see
And what you are
is what you will be
And what we are
is what we will be
And what will be will be

I want for you to
carry water in the rain
I want for you to carry 
water in the rain

I want the rain
Bring on the rain
back to top

Impossible
© 2012, Stephanie Rearick
One special night
when the moon is just right
It's a hell of a sight
Terribly bright

Impossible
Incredible
Miraculous
and wrong

One special night 
when the moon is just right
It's a hell of a sight
Run for your life

Impossible
Incredible
Miraculous
and wrong

When the moon hits your eye
like a big pizza pie
You can run you can hide
Just don't go toward the light

Impossible
Incredible
Miraculous
and wrong

One wretched night
when the moon is too bright
You can run you can hide
Just don't go toward the light

Impossible
Incredible
Miraculous
and wrong

One special night
when the moon is too bright
It's a hell of a sight
and it's night after night

Impossible
Incredible
Miraculous
and wrong
back to top

Free-For-All
© 2012, Stephanie Rearick

Free-for-All

A free-for-all
how lovely 
overall
The harvest moon was singing
Why oh why when you could be
as free as a hummingbird
as rare as a honeybee 
that sprinkles sweet sweet pollen
over thee 
while merrily
you whistle while you're working
at the carriage factory

you see
nothing but a
free for all

how lovely overall 
this time 
this time
you watch in wonder

why oh why oh why oh why
when you could be 
as free as free as a hummingbird
as rare as rare as the second sting 
of the honeybee that 
sprinkles blossoms over thee
while merrily
you whistle while you're working
at the bridle factory

you see
a free for all
how lovely overall
that's said and done
it looks like fun
why not then when you could be
as free as birds as thick as bees
who knows what your new eyes might see
when you're no longer working
at the blinder factory

back to top

Oh No
© 2008, Stephanie Rearick
Anybody ever wonder why
you needed so many things
just to stay alive?
Oh no

Anybody ever pass you by
and you were afraid
to look them in the eye?
Oh no

And you want to take them by the hand
But you'll have to take it on the chin

And you'll wonder after all this time
why people don't know how to live
Oh no

Anybody ever tell you why
you needed so many things
just to feel alright?
Oh no

Anybody ever get you high
just so they could twist your arm
to make a buy?
Oh no

And you ought to have them by the balls
But you have to have them in your house

And they'll wonder after all this time
why you don't know how people live
Oh no
Oh no

Anybody ever wonder why
you just stand there blinking
when it's fight or flight?
Oh no

Anybody ever see that all you're doing
is turning darkness into light
Oh no

And you want to take it on the road
But you'll have to take it underground

And you'll wander far and wide
to find if people there know how to live

Or somethin

Anybody ever wonder why you needed so many things?
Anybody ever tell you why and you were afraid?
Anybody ever wonder why 
Anybody ever wonder why
Anybody ever wonder why?
back to top

Up the Wall
© 2008, Stephanie Rearick
I don't wanna work today and spoil all our fun.
I don't wanna work today and spoil all our groovy good old times.
I know how to work it, if I show you yours then you can show me mine.

I looked out my room today and blinked at what I saw.
A thousand little soldiers marching, military, up and down my hall.
I looked out my window right into the gaping maw.
When I spun around again that army had me backed against the wall.

All the tea in China couldn't 
buy your place in line
outside the ball.

Fasten all your safety belts and hold on for a freaky freaky fall.
But first this roller coaster's gonna slow down to a creepy creepy crawl.
Write down all your wishes and submit them to the gently weeping wall.
And when I make that leap I'll have to trust that you'll be there
to break my fall.

All the tea in China couldn't buy your place in line outside the
All the tea in China couldn't buy your place in line outside the ball.

Maybe what you're wishing for is learning how to walk
instead of crawl.
Standing on each others' shoulders you might just reach halfway up the wall.
And if you can admit that you are still a child you could still grow tall.
back to top

Who Are You?
© 2009, Stephanie Rearick
Who are you
supposed to love
and when will they appear?
Who stole our hearts?
Who stole our minds?

Who are you
supposed to love
and when will they appear?
Who stole our hearts?
Who stole our minds?

We kneel down
before you
and pray for better weather

And though we 
adore you
You only make it snow

Who are you
supposed to love
and when will they appear?
Who stole our hearts?
Who stole our souls?

Dividing before you
the road goes on forever
with every new fork
a trap door you might fall through
it all
you're wildly unsure but
that nothing lasts forever

And brother, you know it
That nothing might mean me and you

No sense in making believe it aint true
that something so common 
could ever happen to you and me

And one day
we'll wonder
who let the bullies take over the school
And how can 
we win when
we always play by their rule

Who are you?
Who are you?

Who are you
supposed to love
and when will they appear?
Who stole our hearts?
Who stole our minds?
Who stole our souls?

Who stole our
claim to the world
before all possibility ended
and when did we offer 
to give it all away?

And while we sing
shoo-wop shoo-wop

While I wait
for the moment
my old moral authority comes back
I'll do unto others
as they do unto me

and while you state
for the record
you'll take no liability for it
you'll do unto others
as they do unto thee

and while we wait 
for the day that the
last massive calamity strikes us
we'll do unto others
as they do unto we

and while I wait
for the moment
my own moral abilities come back
I'll do unto others
as you do unto me

and while you state
for the record
you'll take no liability for it
you'll do unto others
as you do unto thee

and while we wait 
for the day that the
last massive calamity strikes us
we'll do unto others
as you do unto we

and while I wait
for the moment
my own moral abilities come back
I'll do unto others
as you do unto me

and while you state
for the record
you'll take no liability for it
you'll do unto others
as you do unto thee

and while we wait 
for the day that the
last massive calamity strikes us
we'll do unto others
as you do unto...
back to top

Lithe and Blithe
© 2011, Stephanie Rearick
Lithe and Blithe
You were never one to be
a momentary prophecy
If you look around you see
raining lilacs

Lithe and Blithe
Holding on to 
one more drop of 
Dripping blossom
raining circles

Lithe and Blithe
Underneath a canopy 
of sweetly dappled melody
purple-scented harmony
Raining petals

Lithe and Blithe
Sweetly scented canopy
of drooping blossoms
overhead

Lavender blossoms in your hands
Dripping from your fingers

Lavender blossoms in the grass
Floating from our windows

back to top

Pretty Lights
© 2010, Stephanie Rearick
Pretty light show
on the glassy
blackness of the lake

Blinking white and gold
green red globes
blue and red and strobe

Pretty light show
on the rippling 
blackness of the lake

Blinking white and gold
blue and red and strobe

back to top

Evening Sun
© 2010, Stephanie Rearick
You knew exactly what you always had
was all you'd wished for
But you'd be perfectly amazed
at what
a little moonlight might reveal.

You had to go
We always knew
But not for long
That much is true

And all my love
I give to you
It isn't much
It'll have to do

And all my love
I give to you
It isn't much
It'll have to do

until the morning dew

A rose by any other name
is thick and thorny just the same
as when the evening sun
it casts a shadow all night long

A rose by any other name
is thick and thorny just the same
as when the evening sun
it casts a shadow all night long

Long before you
witnessed that the evening sun
could cast a shadow all night long

Long before you
wrote this story
Base and holy
Small and quiet
Big and stormy
Sweet and lovely
Sick and gory
Alternating gripping, boring
Devastating, full of glory

Is it epilogue or foreword?
Tear the page out, hand it over
Read it softly to your lover

"Walk away slowly and noone gets hurt"

back to top

Flyboy
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
Flyboy,
You won't know what won't hurt you and
My boy,
You were born to the purple and

I need you now
like the 
lump in my bed
needs the hole in my head
and you won't
hear a sound
if you knew what I said
I'd be better off dead and you're

Flying low
over the wheat
Stunning the sheep
with your hook beak and apple cheeks
I'm alright 
stuck on the wheat
Cunning but weak
I swear I won't make a peep

I need you now
like the 
lump in my bed
needs the hole in my head
and you won't
hear a sound
if you knew what I said
I'd be better off dead 

cuz the hole in my head wants the lump in your bed

Fly away, Flyboy
sail over the rooftops
and swim through 
the ether
on silent
wings

back to top

Motorcade
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
If you had a market for a 
seven-letter sobriquet
you'd gussy up the motorcade
and show 'em what you got

And then when you back away
it doesn't matter anyway
because you've got no time to pay
for what they think you've bought.

You don't know
you don't say
Everybody knew she hung around the CIA
and if you didn't spell her middle name it'd be OK
and her husband had it coming to him anyway
You don't need a calendar to tell you it's today

And if you had a market for a 
hundred-level microwave
you'd sully up the motorcade
and show 'em what you got.

When you cart the ash away
you know what all your friends will say
they might still like you anyway
unless things get too hot.

You don't say
you don't know
Light that baby up and you can show us where to go
File all the paperwork and then collect your dough
Then ring up the sitter and find out how much she knows
You don't need a weatherman to tell you that it blows.

And if you had a market for a
category hurricane
you'd 
rev up the motorcade
and show
'em
what
you
got
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Nothing New
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
I would lie
You would steal
I would cheat 
You would kill
and where you'll go
they may never know

I will weep
They will scoff
You will keep
What they lost

and I will die for you
and I am nothing new

I feel the Rapture
crawling up my leg
I hear the rumbling earthquake
I see your Golden Boy 
staring into space
I fear his warm embrace
and 

I will die for you
and I am nothing new
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Night
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
When night falls 
down
you pray to see

When light goes still
you strain to be

you're on your own
you know

When air will bear no sound
you hear to breathe

you're on your own
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Democracy
© Leonard Cohen
Stranger Music (BMI), Sony ATV Music Publishing, used with permission.
It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that it ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow on the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
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Across the Universe
© Lennon/McCartney,
published by Sony ATV Tunes and EMI Blackwood Music, used with permission.
Words are flowing out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as 
they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Nothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which
dance before me like a million eyes
They call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as
they make their way across the universe

Nothing's gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of earth
are ringing through my open ears
exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which
shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

Nothing's gonna change my world
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Cosmos and Asters
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
and you know nothing
and you are nothing too
and you need nothing
nothing is part of you
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Dear Shadow
Lyrics from Found II
Dear Shadow,
I miss you so much. How is hevan?
I just love you so much. Please show me 
you still remember me. Send a sing, please also of God.
I love you guys in hevan!
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In the Rain
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
You grew up in the rain,
you're gonna look wet.
You made it to this plane 
with few regrets.
I couldn't take the pain,
I'm willing to bet.

And I wouldn't give you nothing
and you haven't thought of 
asking for it yet.
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Birthright
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
And while your clan's engaging 
in tense negotiations 
to apprehend the birthright of the meek 
 
you keep pretending that it's 
a brand-new situation 
but we went through this just the other week 
 
You taught your children 
nothing's free 
but now they're always grabbing 
Your only weakness 
you can't see they were always watching you 
 
You take advantage of your 
untarnished reputation 
as the keeper of the family peace 
But when your brother starts up 
another altercation 
who are you to turn the other cheek? 
 
You taught your children 
to love Jesus 
And now they're always gagging 
Mouths full of wafers 
if they could speak 
They'd be asking, asking 
 
Where were you 
when you knew? 
Where were you 
when you knew? 
 
First they came for Muslims 
then they came for Jews 
then they came for Jesus 
Will they come for you? 
 
(you were not a Muslim 
you were not a Jew 
you were not like Jesus 
Who will speak up for you?) 
 
You've always been the one to 
perform resuscitations 
while all the others stand around 
and weep 
But when your country chokes on 
its transubstantiation 
who are you to do a finger sweep? 
 
You taught your children to breathe free 
and now they're always gasping 
If they could get the air to speak 
They'd be asking asking 
 
Where were you 
when you knew? 
Crying
What to do 
when they come for you
when they come for you
Will they come for you?

You keep pretending that it's 
a brand new situation
but as the kids will see
We are history.

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Man Who Stole Tomorrow
© 2001, Stephanie Rearick
Where did you land
after your fall
You didn't land at all

Now we sit here in sorrow
with the man who stole tomorrow

You couldn't stand
She made you tall
Both had to fall 

Now we sit here in sorrow
with the man who stole tomorrow

And anyone will fell you
It's the only thing they know
Noone can ever tell that you are really in control,

How you sit in tomorrow
with the man, man who stole our sorrow

There was nothing that you wouldn't do
You did nothing that you wanted to

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Native Tongue
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
You swept and mopped
your favorite son.
You lost your native tongue.
You played the game
that nobody won
You could have been someone

But you loved the sweets
You loved the rain-slicked streets
You worshipped the sun
You weren't the only one

You swept and mopped 
your favorite son.
You lost your native tongue
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You Don't Know
© 2007, Stephanie Rearick
You don't know
what you've got
what you've got,
what you want
what you've got,
what you want
You don't know
You don't know
What you've got
What you want

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sonnet entitled how to run the world)
Poem by e.e. cummings,
© 1935, 1963, 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust. © 1978 by George James Firmage, from COMPLETE POEMS: 1904-1962 by E. E. Cummings, edited by George Firmage. Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corp.

A always don't there B being no such thing
for C can't casts no shadow D drink and

E eat of her voice in whose silence the music of spring
lives F feel opens but shuts understand
G gladly forget little having less

with every least each most remembering
H highest fly only the flag that's furled

(sestet entitled grass is flesh or swim
who can and bathe who must or any dream
means more than sleep as more than know means guess)

I item i immaculately owe
dying one life and will my rest to these

children building this rainman out of snow

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Hymn
© 2005, Stephanie Rearick
How do we 
keep on?
All we ever knew 
was wrong

God keep our faith
at your commanding
from reprobate
An understanding
We seal our fate

How will we 
get along?
All we ever knew
is gone

God keep our faith
and understanding
in trust and safe
at your commanding
Godspeed our fate

How will we learn
from wrong?
How could it be
so long?

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Star Belly
© 2005, Stephanie Rearick
From butterscotch bubblegum
Green candy apples
and raspberry pie
To mud in your eye,
We do or we die

Slimy brown leeches
and star-bellied sneetches
and snakes with one eye
Whose stakes just got high
with you on top of the hill

singing

I'll do whatever I want
You'll take whatever I got
I'll do whatever 
and you'll feel much better
and whether you feel it or not

The cards that you're playing
Their faces keep changing
with whiskey and rye
In the blink of an eye,
Will you or will I?

Rhapsody wavering 
symphony quavering
Notes that slide by
Tears that won't dry,
A flood
Run up to the hill

singing

I'll do whatever I want
You'll take whatever I got
I'll do whatever 
and you'll feel much better
and whether you feel it or not
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Disease
© 2005, Stephanie Rearick
Another country heard from
Another circle broken
Another sentence uttered
Better left unspoken

And if your heart is open 
it seems it may have sprung a leak
Drain it to the sewer and then
Take a drink

Now everything is spilling out
All your wounds are open
Please accept this tourniquet
as of my love a token

And though your mouth is open
you cannot find the words to speak
They have yet to name your disease

We've emptied out your ribcage
A verdant field gone fallow
Now you're going diving
where the water's shallow

And if your skin is sallow
The blood that drained was drained from me
Flush it to the sewer and 
Get some relief

First you were a rich man
Then you were a poor man
Once you had the penthouse
Now you are the doorman

And though it's striking everyone 
we never had the nerve to scream
They have yet to name your disease

Noone wants to buy the cow when they can suck her teats for free
Now I lay you on the ground and bid them eat your meat with me

Noone wants to buy the cow when they can suck your teats for free
Now I splay you on the ground and beg them eat your meat for me

Noone wants to buy the cow when they can suck her teats for free
Now I lay me on the ground and beg you strip my meat from me
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Twilight Fog
© 2005, Stephanie Rearick
The twilight fog
is one still breath
Just like the wet
and tender kiss of 
death

and when they ask
what became of you
I turn my eyes to a 
sparkling drop of dew

The geese cry out
They're not home yet
They cut a hazy figure
overhead

And when they turn
and bid you fond adieu
A ghostly chill
settles over you
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Your Foolish Heart
© 2005, Stephanie Rearick
And so it goes
or so I'm told
Your foolish heart
is good as gold

When what you sow
is all your dreams
They'll sprout up soon
or so it seems

like yesterday
on Granddad's knee
you learned to play
He got to see

to it you'd
do what you'd wanted to do every day
and he knew
You'd got nothing better to do anyway

up in the sky
a birdie sings 
He likes to fly
He loves his wings

And while he sings
a horse goes by
with one fine thing
o'er either eye

and close behind 
a carriage trails
'I am not blind'
they horsey wails

whinnying
'Do what you wanted to do every day
Anything
They've got nothing better for you anyway

out in the field
your mother sighs
as one more meal
around her dies

and while she cries
the birdie sings
that once you fly
You'll get your wings

And so it goes
or so I'm told
Your foolish heart
is good as gold
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DreemyCream
© 2005, Stephanie Rearick
He's a real go-getter
Invisible till he comes up and bites you

He's a real showstopper
Curtain call in a vacant theatre

He wouldn't have me for all of the world
And if he would I'm not that kind of girl

He's so downtown

He's a creamy dreamer
But waking up can be so disjointing

He's a dreamy schemer
Promising nothing and not disappointing

He wouldn't have me for all of the world
And if he would I'm not that kind of girl

He's so downtown

He's my Dreemycream
He's so downtown
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Roll Over
© 2005, Stephanie Rearick
There once was a man
who had to work his mind
It wasn't his fault
it just happened all the time

In spite of the shaowy figures
that circled and fed
With venom and spittle
they muttered and sputtered
and this is what they said

Roll over
and take your kicks to the head 
like a man

Roll over 
in the most sporting way you can

You know you're outnumbered
by minds unencumbered
with 2 + 2 is 4

Get screaming and kicking
Each moment is ticking
And ten times as loud as the moment before

And there was a man
who never had a spine
He wanted to move
but he trembled all the time

In fear at the chorus of voices
that rang in his head
The song that has always
divided the quick and the dead

Roll over

Roll over and take your kicks to the head
like a man

Roll over
in the most sporting way you can

Roll over

And there was a man
who had to work his mind
It wasn't his fault
but he trembled all the time

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Arms
© 2005, Stephanie Rearick
I lay my arms around you
Your ivory throat 
does glow

Motion is all about you
Nowhere for you to go

Your open eyes
are streaming
Wide from what they
were dreaming

Nothing is in your mirror
Nothing for you to know
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Ghostlike
© 2003, Stephanie Rearick
Inscrutable smile and hearty hello
Great introduction, now where is the show?
show up
show down
show us all how it's done
You're the star attraction
Hostlike

Ready for action and ready to go
Ready for nothing or ready to blow
blow up
blow off
blow job
blow in the wind
like a white gauze curtain
Ghostlike

Very urbane in your top hat and cane
So inhumane of you not just to know
know all 
know nothing
no go and no show
You're the star attraction
Ghostlike

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Tiny Hairs
© 2003, Stephanie Rearick
There's a tiny little man
in a tiny little house
with a tiny little wife
for his tiny little spouse

By a tiny little choice
she wears a golden ring
has a tiny little voice
'cause he hates to hear her sing

They do a tiny dance
Wave their little limbs
Bark their tiny shins
Step on little toes and ankles

They jitterbug
They cut a rug
He gives a tug
And she just topples over

She holds to some sign of happiness
like she clutches her pocketbook
meanwhile...
Every robber can tell
she'll never let go while he's

throwing paper airplanes at her-
throwing paper airplanes till she's-
throwing paper airplanes like I said


So the tiny little man
and his tiny little spouse
gave a tiny little birth 
to a tiny little louse

which falls down tiny stairs
and he swings his little fists
and he splits her tiny hairs
and she slits her little wrists

They do a tiny dance
Wave their little limbs
Bark their tiny shins
Step on little toes and ankles

They jitterbug
They cut a rug
He gives a tug
And she just topples over

He is carefully watching himself
for some sign of empathy
While she's avoiding his eyes
and every moment he's

throwing paper airplanes at her-
throwing paper airplanes till she's-
throwing paper airplanes like I said
like I said
like I said
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Secret
© 2003, Stephanie Rearick and Jon Hain
I've got a secret
White lights and treatments
Dark nights bathed in fine mist

much like
just like you

Fog sleeps with clenched fists
Drowns in a fine mist
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These Birds
© 2003, Stephanie Rearick
These birds have to scratch and scramble
These birds only want to tweet
These birds plow through brush and bramble
just to get a speck of grain to eat

Scratch and scramble
Want
Plow
For the chance to pick their masters

These birds have to scratch and scramble
These birds only want to screech
These birds plow through brush and bramble
For the chance to peck their masters' feet
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Clyde
© 2003, Stephanie Rearick
The silence is deafening
the moon's face is reddening
the heartache is deadening
the daybreak is threatening

The birds circle over,
dropping feathers,
fluff you up a bed

A train sounds a lonely horn
You hold your ears against it,
now it's gone.
Hold your breath, it won't be long
They'll find out that you won't be moving on

Hot sparks are flying,
metal screeching,
screaming toward the dawn

The passengers strain to see
the gruesome curiosity
of iron and velocity
roaring on with such ferocity

The birds circle over,
dropping feathers,
fluff you up a bed.
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Lamentation
© 2003, Stephanie Rearick
Worms did eat the apple of my eye
I reach out for the dust to draw it nigh
nigh

I listen for a daughter's earthly cry
I only hear the wind around me sigh
sigh

I walked down darkened corridor
with raspy throated troubadour
who slowing, sinking, toward the floor
lay down and lies behind me evermore
evermore

I've been looking for the angels in the snow
I've only found the absence of a shadow
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I Need Sunflowers!
I need sunflowers!
I walk many miles trying to find some.
If they're fresh, I kiss their honey faces
if they're dried, I put them on my windowsill 
where they continue glowing

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Bloan
© 2000, Stephanie Rearick
 
If only you'd known...

You could have come back with bunches of flowers in your hands
Or was it a fistful of your lover's hair?

If only you had known

But you were thrown
onto the pyre of your easy chair
In a room full of broken glass everywhere

If only you had known...

And now you've shown

You couldn't ask for the lion's share anyway
No matter what all the people around you say
You'll just avert this tragedy some other day
Once he's collected all you could possibly pay

And if you had known
You could have flown
back to top

Theme from "Jesus"
Words © 1998, Stephanie Rearick

She said "You've heard of Jesus,
He turned a cake into a pie
And remember how he helped clear up
the sty in that guy's eye"

Do as I do, not as I say I think I'll do.
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Uncle Runkle
© 2000, Stephanie Rearick
It feels like it was yesterday
When I explained to you
from my tender teenage point of view
Ain't noone ever gonna notice you
till you change your mousy ways

Just take a day or two
to rethink your girlish attitudes
I know someone who's been watching you
I'll be sending him your way

Hope you like my Uncle Runkle
He's the only kraut in the neighborhood
Hope you like my Uncle Runkle
He'd never ever have it any other way

And when he comes for you
wear the lipstick like I showed you to
With some nylon stockings and a new hairdo
you could be your mother's age

Just don't unbolt the door
till he tells you what he's asking for
You know everyone will say you're a whore
if you let him have his way

Hope you like my Uncle Runkle
He's the only kraut in the neighborhood
Hope you like my Uncle Runkle
He'd never ever have it any other way


...and when he loves you the night sky goes twinkle starry blue
and when he kissed you your whole life was all over...


Why'd you unbolt the door
then pretend you didn't ask for more
There's a whole society behind your door
don't you have something to say
(you shouldn't say it anyway)

Don't you tell on Uncle Runkle
He's the oldest grouch in the neighborhood
Don't you tell on Uncle Runkle
He'd never ever have it any other way
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Baker St.
© 1998, Stephanie Rearick

X was walking down the big city street
past the pawn shop and the laundry
and the orange neon sign that said "EAT"

When she saw it was a quarter to three
she said to herself "Man, what's happened to me?
I ought to be home on Baker Street"

She'd got her wallet stolen and was clocked
on the head, she was feeling pretty dazed 
and a little she'd bled
She wanted a cab but couldn't cover the cost
and she had to admit she was utterly lost
and far from home on Baker Street

where she'd lived six years or so
at the end of the cul-de-sac
where all the neighbor kids could go
and she'd fix them a tasty snack
She had a pretty green lawn,
Three full baths
Two car garage

X was going round and round 
and up and down the street
and she frantically stopped
everybody she'd meet
asked them all the same question,
how to get home
They all gave the same response,
the answer unknown
They'd never heard of Baker St.

So she went to the police station
and pulled aside a cop
and said "You gotta help me officer,
I need it a lot! I got my wallet stolen
early today and on top of that
I seem to've lost my way
back to my home on Baker St.

Where I've lived six years or so
at the end of the cul-de-sac
It's where I really want to go
And I need you to get me back
To my pretty green lawn
Three full baths
Two car garage"

The cop said "Sorry ma'am I never heard of a place
that matched a description like the one
you just gave"
He went to the other room and pulled out a map
and our poor X fainted when he came back and said
"There's no such place as Baker St."

"We're sorry, the number you've dialed is not in service.  
Please hang up and try your call again"

So X got herself a waitressing job
at the corner diner 
where the men could slap her ass
but she could not be a whiner
Then she got a cheap room in a 
little boarding house
It was the first she'd shared a bathroom
with folks other than her spouse
who may still live on Baker St.

Where they'd lived six years or so
at the end of the cul-de-sac
Where all the neighbor kids could go
and she'd fix them a tasty snack
They had a pretty green lawn
Three full baths 
Two car garage...

Now it's been seven years and the memory has faded
and X has settled in and grown a little bit jaded
but she has herself a job that pays the rent
and she's hard-pressed to say where all the time went
since she left old Baker St.


...Last Saturday night X was working at the diner
and a man straggled in looking really upset
He said "You gotta help me please, I think I've lost my way
and noone around seems to know what to say when I ask
how to get to Baker St."
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Ferris Wheel
© 1998, Stephanie Rearick

We were
riding on a ferris wheel
getting stranded in the sun
making up a fancy poem

You were leaving soon 
and we had all the time in the world

making futures in the woods
sleeping by the highway-side
drawing phanties and their toothaloops

We were growing up
and we lived all the life in the world

We're not alone
All around there are living things

And you were a butterfly
and you were a sailing ship
and a pink-haired silk-skinned wunderkind

We had very small pages
and we wrote the best book in the world

We're not alone
All around there are living things

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Tea In The Park
© 2000, Stephanie Rearick
 
They couldn't get you
You knew what to do
you looked all around and you found there was nothing to lose

And how does it fit
your keen interest
that some are in Prada and others not wearing a stitch?

So you spend death-gamble days,
blackjack at night
Noone goes out
without a fight

No more
just sitting back
while the bank robs the store

and that's how the weeble wobbles
and that's how the tower topples

They couldn't get you
you knew what to do
you looked all around and you found there was nothing to lose

And how did you see
that you could break free
from the now barely-legal tradition of duplicity

Tea in the park
Pigs in the dark
You turn an eagle into a lark

No more 
just looking on
while they lock up the poor

and you crawled up silent
through the mines
and you slew the giant
from behind 
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Eating Machine
© 1999, Stephanie Rearick
It's an eating machine,
you better get out of the way
Eating machine
'cause it could eat you too, someday
Say your prayers

Give us this day
our daily roast beast
Add in some yams
and some pickled goats' feet
Stockpile news
interest accrues
You snooze, you lose
Passing's passe
Live for today,
Come what may

It's an eating machine,
you better get out of the way
Eating machine,
and it could eat you too, someday
It's what's for dinner.

Peanuts and popcorn and pepsi and bagels and buffalo wings in a red plastic
basket
and cornflakes and poptarts and gummi lifesavers and purple jawbreakers and
tummy-ache makers
Kentucky Fried Chicken and Arby's and Hardee's
A Happy Meal Deal in a Sadsacky package
And WalMart and Target 
they won't leave you wanting 
You've got one-stop shopping
your shopping bag's popping

Come and get it if you want it

You can have it all and you can have it now
no wait at all
you better hurry up
things might get different any day

Smart bombs and landmines and Patriot missiles
and Westinghouse weapons in Boeing jet airplanes
Depleted uranium clusters of cluster bombs 
stealthy Stealth bombers, the mighty Apache
Collateral damage and rashes and maimings 
and spinal cord injuries and burned up babies 
and air raids and shelters and refugee refuges in desert wastelands no food
and no future

You might get it if we want it

Yeah, we want it all and we can take it, now
if you don't play ball
you better watch yourself things might get different any day

Eating machine
You're what's for dinner
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Dancer
© 1999, Stephanie Rearick
She was a dancer
she had the fleetest feet
She couldn't help it
Her feet were all to fleet

And she was getting somewhere
and she was going fast
And she was telling someone
that she knew it couldn't last

And she'd tell you something once
and not again
You were her only friend
You were her next of kin

And when she spoke up
she'd say the strangest things
She saw the future 
and what tomorrow brings

And things keep moving forward
and things are going fast
And she is dancing somewhere
and she keeps spinning toward the past

And she told you something once
and not again
You were her only friend
You were her next of kin

She went and gave up the rest of her life
for one good waltz and a walk toward the light.

And when you looked up
with your beleaguered face
you couldn't know that
she always wins the race

And she is moving forward
and she is going fast
And she is getting nowhere
as she keeps spinning toward the past

And she'll tell you something once
and not again
You were her only friend
You were her next of kin

I will remember the rest of my life
I was her daughter and 
time was her wife

She was a dancer
she had the fleetest feet
She couldn't help it
Her feet were all too fleet
back to top

Cardboard Coffin
© 1998, Stephanie Rearick

You need a jolt
You've got to bolt
you're half-asleep
you need to wake
The deal is grave
you cannot wait another day
No marking time
you've got to fly or scream or dance
you need a thrill you cannot 
waste another chance
to finally feel like you are real

I buy my high by flying high in the sky 
       so I might feel like I might die

You've fallen ill
you're losing color
losing hair
you're losing weight
You know you may not live
to see another day
You've got no time for 
peace of mind
you miss the calm
and all around you is the 
deafening lack of sound
And you can't help but know you're real

There was a time
or was no time
when you were fine
and you could find
the perfect spot
that one good place
that wasn't bought
And you'd know all
you'd ever sought
was what you'd got


...How to tell it's a cardboard coffin: 
Just wait till noone's looking and start knocking.
If it's a hollow thud and noone answers, then push 
on the sides and see if they give.
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Indian Summer
© 2000, Stephanie Rearick
It's late November and we're walking around the town
with our pants down
to feel the warm breeze on our knees

And on Thanksgiving day we ate our massive meal
under a steel blue sky

It feels so good
I hope it stays this way all winter
Indian Summer

This year at Christmastime we opened all our presents
under a palm tree
and at Spring Break
we bought our own Florida Key

Beachfront property is going for a song
Going for a song...

It's been so great 
I hope it stays this way forever
Indian Summer

Our June wedding was disrupted by all the tumbleweeds
blowing through the aisle 
and knocking the preacher off his feet

On Independence Day we cranked up the AC
and watched the fireworks display 
on our giant screen TV

I think I'm finally looking forward to the end
of Indian Summer

...in August the cornstalks were blazing in the fields...


It's not so much the heat as the choking clouds of smoke

Indian Summer
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Not Another Minute
© 2001, Stephanie Rearick
Got another weekend for you, baby
Got another weekend for you now
Yeah we got another weekend for you darlin'
This weekend's gonna be a bitch, and how
Oh, yeah

Got another supper for you, grandma
even though you couldn't take another bite
Yeah we got another supper for you darlin'
just because you won't put up a fight

No, not another minute

Got another drip in store for grandma
got another drip in store for sure
Yeah we got another drip here for you darlin'
This drip'll keep you coming back for more
Oh, yeah

Let's have another birthday partygrandma
We could even prop you up in bed
Yeah we're coming to the birthday party, darlin'
Couldn't really hear you when you said

No, not another minute

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Elegy
© 1999, Stephanie Rearick
We were all alone
He was lying prone
and his eyes were closed,
My Dear
and he wore a suit
and he looked like you
My Dear

But I knew it wasn't you
He looked like you but didn't sigh like you
or smile like you
No twinkle in his eye
He didn't even lie
like you
would lie

And his hands were clasped
Nothing in their grasp
My Dear
You were nowhere to be seen
Left me in my time of need
My Dear

which you will always be
forgiven for,
but not forgot
And you will always be
invincible, irascible
invisible, erasable
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Wading
© 1996, Stephanie Rearick
It's raining
so steady
Pulsating on the river
The leaves
are glistening
and earthworms
are getting withered
Now
I'm wading
in the rippling water
squishing on the slimy bottom
walking 'cross the jagged rocks
I hit some moss 
and slip in underwater
Now
I'm waiting
for someone to pull me up
to shore or even up
to air
but barring that
I'm waiting for my silver crayfish

And right now
I'm getting muddy
I'm getting leeches
I'm getting wet

And looking up from the murky bottom
I see sunlight casting diamonds on the surface
Sure looks nice.

Half-empty
half-assed and
half-full and 
half-witted
Half-life and
half-lived and
half-hearted
half-dead
Half-deaf and
half-listened
Half the time
Half way
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The Man Who Stole Tomorrow
© 2001, Stephanie Rearick
Where did you land
after your fall
You didn't land at all

Now we sit here in sorrow
with the man who stole tomorrow

You couldn't stand
She made you tall
Both had to fall 

Now we sit here in sorrow
with the man who stole tomorrow

And anyone will fell you
It's the only thing they know
Noone can ever tell that you are really in control,

How you sit in tomorrow
with the man, man who stole our sorrow

There was nothing that you wouldn't do
You did nothing that you wanted to
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Circular Reasoning
© 1995, Stephanie Rearick


You might be right
I don't know what's good for me
The things you do
are for my own security
In these great times of trouble
I'll trust you all
I'll crawl inside your bubble
no mind at all
And if you need a mouthpiece
I'll play along
I don't understand the words
but I know you wrote the song

You're dancing rings around my circular reasoning

Oh yes I know 
you've got your own priorities
And I couldn't do
without all your amenities
You write your own prescription
You tend the store
And with your kind permission
I'll walk right through your door
Yes, in these times of trouble
I'll trust you all
I'll crawl inside your bubble
I'll watch you fall

You're dancing rings around my circular reasoning
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Jeopardy
© 1996, Stephanie Rearick
This jeopardy's electric
in its universal appalling appeal
this look is gonna gut you 'cause it
can't afford for you to have too much inside

It's your everyday beauty pageant
It's your time in the gaze of the spotlight
It's your day to sizzle in its eye

Are you wanting to pick it up or
are you trying your best to put it down?

This jeopardy awaits you like an
impatient naked lover
The warmth of it caresses you like
sunlight through a magnifying glass

It's your everyday beauty pageant
It's your time in the gaze of the spotlight
It's your day to sizzle in its eye

Are you wanting to pick it up or
are you trying your best to put it down?

You consider you so closely
it makes you want to gouge your eyes out
They consider you so thoroughly
it makes you want to gouge their eyes out too

It's an ordinary thing for you to do.
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Fiberglass Panties
© 1996, Stephanie Rearick

I met your friend today 
I think she seems OK
pretty friendly and not too obnoxious
you seem to hang out a lot
closer than I had thought
I think it's nice for you
Wish I had one too

But there's something about it
It's nothing but
I feel funny and
please don't get mad at me
Can't put my finger on it
but it's something like this
I'm not sure how to say it 
but I think that

She's too effusive 
and you're too appreciative
You're too intimate
It's not appropriate
And I'm having this feeling
A little unsettling
Don't want to restrict you
but I feel a need to
explain and be heard cuz my thoughts
running wild
It's childish and wrong and irrational
I know inside of my head the threat it is mild
I shouldn't have said it I'm sorry but

I just had to bring it up
I just had to lay it down
Down your throat again
I just had to bring it up
I just had to lay it down
My disorderly brain needs to be sure
that you get a disorder too

I just had to bring it up
I just had to lay it down
Down your throat again
I just had to bring it up
I just had to lay it down
Now I'm wanting to lay it to rest
but it's restless and so you are too

Well I
hope you appreciate
I tried to show restraint
When I'm emotional
I tend to overstate
It's a little bit tricky
a little bit sticky
this business of being unenvious
I meant it but not quite
I think maybe not at all
Please don't be changing things
on my behalf now
I was a little bit restless
a little bit nervous
my ego was fragile
I think that I'm 
over it now 
and I take it all back
it had nothing to do with you
nothing to do with her
It was just the discomfort
was getting to me
It was all cuz I'm
wearing my fiberglass panties

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Happy Go Lucky
© 1994, Stephanie Rearick

Well the sun hangs low and bright and orange
in the blazing heat today
And it's just a watery coat of paint that keeps
the sun's rays at bay
And the biting flies are miserable 
and their skin is en flambe 
But the phanties think there's a cool lagoon
just a little ways away

So they go walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
in a single file line
They go walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
and they seem to feel fine
They go walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
in a single file line
They go walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
and their wrinkles tell the time

The sky it shelters overhead
like a pale blue glassy dome
And the tall grass rustles
as the other creatures
aimlessly still roam
And when the sun has fallen 
and the day collapses into night
The phanties stay their course,
finding their way by bright moonlight 

And they go walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
in a single file line
They go walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
and they seem to feel fine
They go walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
in a single file line
They go walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
and their wrinkles tell the time

And when the sun pokes up again
they know the heat the day will bring
But when despair begins to threaten
They begin to sing
And with every step they take
They know inside their trek
may never end
But they're pretty sure that
that lagoon must be
just around the bend

So  they keep walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
in a single file line
They keep walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
and they seem to feel fine
They keep walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
in a single file line
They keep walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin' and a-walkin'
and their wrinkles tell the time
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Culty's
© 1995, Jon Hain, Stephanie Rearick & David Fawcett

Walk around the table
give that friendly wave
Close it down
Now your in the elite club
Yeah, so profound

It's Culty's Women and Boys

If you feel the need to belong
to rise above the throng
Just give a vacant stare
and give old Jim a scare

If you wonder why we're here
the reason is perfectly clear
if you drink some spicy beer
and braid your little beard

In the club you can
speak your mind
We'll listen and be kind
No matter what you say
We'll love you anyway

So if you need to get away
Just listen to what we say
You don't need a vacant stare
You just need people who care
like
CULTY'S WOMEN AND BOYS
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Erotomania
© 1994, Stephanie Rearick

I glassed a cast
up and down your body
And played a way that
you could step right through
I got a grip on your 
holy senses
Then one of them
said you could see me too.

And when you wake up with your
morning face
and turn and look at me
and smile
I don't know if I can break 
this pace
Maybe I'll see you in awhile

I grew and 
hit my head
on your ceiling
And raised a bump
that you could
crawl into
So once again you've
set me reeling
Am I falling where
you want me to?

And when I get up off my
shattered face
You turn and look at me
and smile
I don't know if I can make
this pace
Maybe I'll see you in awhile

You bought a modicum
of ardor
and then went broke
before you wanted to
And when you're overdrawn
it's harder
to convince myself
I still want you

But when you show up
with your pretty face
and turn and look at me
and smile
All I know is I can't
shake this pace
Maybe I'll see you in awhile

...My body sings with your silence
It drifts in my ears with a calmness that clears out my mind
Your eyes paint scenes of my image
A newness surrounds the reflections that make up my world

Your breathing melts with the breezes
The wind rushes softly around me and wraps up my life
back to top

Wading
© 1996, Stephanie Rearick
It's raining
so steady
Pulsating on the river
The leaves
are glistening
and earthworms
are getting withered
Now
I'm wading
in the rippling water
squishing on the slimy bottom
walking 'cross the jagged rocks
I hit some moss 
and slip in underwater
Now
I'm waiting
for someone to pull me up
to shore or even up
to air
but barring that
I'm waiting for my silver crayfish

And right now
I'm getting muddy
I'm getting leeches
I'm getting wet

And looking up from the murky bottom
I see sunlight casting diamonds on the surface
Sure looks nice.

Half-empty
half-assed and
half-full and 
half-witted
Half-life and
half-lived and
half-hearted
half-dead
Half-deaf and
half-listened
Half the time
Half way
back to top

14
© 1996, Jon Hain

I'd like to paint a picture  of 14 lonely women 
   drawing 14 lonely years.
I'd like to take a photograph of 14 lazy rivers 
   losing 14 lonely tears.
I'd like to tell a story of 14 diesel engines 
   losing 14 lonely gears.
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Lizards & Stars
© 1997, Stephanie Rearick

I've got a tale
It's a legendary epic
Full of monsters and lawyers and lizards and stars
You can't fit it in your head.
And it ends with the death of the universe
And you've a bit part somewhere in between
the climax and the denouement

And we are everything right now

I've got a song
It's a simple observation
made up of laughter and crying and ashes and dust
You can hold it in your hand.
And it ends in the blink of an insect's eye
And you are barely aware that each word of this song is
a piece of time

And we've all overwritten our roles
And they seem to be set in stone
back to top

Out Of Breath
© 1996, Stephanie Rearick

You used to be 
so unusual
You used to be
like a stranger
to me

You were living in another part of town
You were working on another friend of mine
You were painting very pretty pictures
of very ugly things
You were clinging to another fragment of
another foggy notion of another love
You were occupied by other things when
impulse grabbed you by your collar

You were walking down another street to 
    work and then you took another 
left turn and you flagged another taxi 
    and you tipped another driver 
and you conned another doorman and you 
    climbed another flight of stairs 
and ended up at my door
at my door

And your timing was nearly imperfect
and your presence was almost unwelcome
And amid the details of your abrupt arrival
I was thinking

What a wonderful time to be living
Living on your knees
What a wonderful time to be breathing
Breathing down my neck
What a wonderful time to be beating
Beating down my door
Down my door

And maybe you'll excuse me while I babble 
rather breathlessly and tell you I don't 
want to be engaged in conversation with 
you and if you were wondering I'm really 
rather busy and I can't be entertaining 
right now cuz I'm on the phone and maybe 
if you stop another time when inconveniences 
aren't keeping me from company, enjoying your 
fine company, maybe I'll perform more aptly, 
say my lines much more calmly, maybe I'll 
stop talking for reasons other than running 
out of breath.
back to top

Sleepless Years
© 1995, Stephanie Rearick

He was only breathing sleepless years for a brass generation
back to top

Tida
© 1993, Jon Hain & Stephanie Rearick

Walk six miles to touch the seahorse
in the factory
Divide your mileage by your time
then collect your fee
Compute the backwards blisster
then return your key
If you wanted to ride that tidal wave,
you could always wait by the sea

Tida Upala
uvula faster, try to relax

Put your thoughts inside your pillow
It's time to state your plea
Remember the weeping willow
by the balcony
Speak softly of your sorrow,
listen to the tree
When you redeem your conscience coupon
you will find your conscience is free

Tida Upala
uvula faster, try to relax
back to top


Stephanie Rearick - every thing everything Stephanie Rearick Jr. - Dreamworld Stephanie Rearick - Up The Wall Stephanie Rearick - Democracy Stephanie Rearick - Star Belly Stephanie Rearick - The Bucket Rider Stephanie Rearick - Long Picnic
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