jamie macdowell

words and rhythm

[jamiemacdowell]

The Sum Of It

Sum of all my fears Sum of all I work toward Sum of all my insecurities Sum of all I work toward You groove me with your wicked ways Confirm me with your kisses babe Tattoo me with your perfume And brand me with your kiss I gotta tell you now

You're the sum if it The product of my wandering All my lines and the colourings Like a nutrient, you're nourishing You're my cover like a mother is But from afar like a surrogate I'm out of breath like a runner gets You're the air when I'm recovering I feel real like a thoroughbred I fell dizzy cause I'm tumbling Warm like we're huddling Then hot till it's troubling Hear my knees go buckling The murmurs when I'm muttering Your grace has got me worrying If I lose you, I'll be stuck with it

(chorus) You're the sum if it The queen like a mothership You keep me on track like a rudder does You light up like a cigarette

I'm sure of it You’re youthful like an orphanage I feel old like an organist You see through me like the corridors I follow you like coordinates Wide-eyed like a tourist gets Through the dark until the morning is You’re put together like an orchestra I’ve got a nack for the choruses And I’m going to ship to foreign shores with it I’m made of awfulish You're made of glamorous and glorious But I'll be back like the Schwarzenegger Hanging out like an ornament We'll be richer than the royalist We'll be richer than the royalist

(chorus) You're the sum of it The queen like a mothership Keep me on track like a rudder does You light up like a cigarette

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Imperial

I'm a soul train video The O in your stereo Can't even measure me in decibels because I'm measured in imperial I'm on and off like a flash strobe I get up like a periscope Like the devil at the crossroads I'm the Venom and the Antidote

I'm a missile on a one way course. I'm a rocket ship at T minus 10 seconds till launch. I'm a bullet on a B line to the end of a narrow barrel, about to burst, and thirsty for you. I'm an introvert cursed with being personable. I'm a submersible buried under the earth in the dirt. So full of words that I could burst, and man it hurts, call a nurse, Because the verses are turning me blue. I'm a flash of light sudden, I'm a frightening sight, like a lightning strike. I'm the clap from up the back of the atmosphere, wrapped up in cheerful antics, I'm romantic like Aladdin licking Jasmines ear. As fancy as a chandelier, one handed on the tan brazier, the engine, wing and landing gear, all at once are standing here. Your fantasy, a grand veneer, vocabulary engineer. A cannabalistic animal, I'll tear you up from ear to ear.

     I'm a realistic piece of carbon with reasonable principles I sleep at even intervals, I don't believe in miracles I'm all about the heart, a little bit about the genitals, but any boy would say that to you. I'm a well supported pauper I get caught up in my quarters I can't afford it but I've got more to write, up in the corner I'm the sort of dog brought up on the poison in the water and it's awful but I'm likely to bite. Sometimes I'm a train wreck on stage but I’m dangerously patient I'm tenacious because it takes some time to make it. I'm abrasive there's a sentiment that I keep with no hesitance "contentment's the enemy of invention”. Who ain’t in favour of same sex relationships? Love is unexplained so far so who are we to regulate it? I'm for all forms of admiration, lust and flattery. I don't believe they're aware of anatomy.

Sometimes I long to be young again, I wish they'd invent a medicine so I could go back and spend the days that I misspent again. I'd take piano lessons instead of playing tennis, and I wouldn't quit the choir. I'd pay much more attention to my english teacher, I'd do all the reading in the holidays I think I could have learnt a whole lot more from Mr. Holloway Now I'm a grammar addict, pragmatically, I'm branded by semantics I'm an analyst, and never will abandon it. Maybe it's better that I developed late instead of early Music don't come naturally to me so no-one heard me when I started, I was terrible, much worse than I'd admit because I pushed the tone and melody but didn't know what pitch was. See, writing has always been it for me though no-one knew it, and I think when when I was young I just wasn't ready to do it, but I'm proud of my past, I'm proud of every way I used it, because the dimly-lit dead ends, they all directed me to music.

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Fever and Love

You're a little bit of water, little bit of blood A little bit of reason and a little bit of luck. A little bit of fever and a little bit of love Little bit of falling, and a lot of getting up.

Just another drunk, in just another dive bar, same chair as last time, same clothes as last night A waitress, stretching every pay check, behind on her statements for education payments Just another traveller, you think you got character because you've been to India or Africa to study the vernacular Another lonely man, got the boney hands, picking up the soda cans to pay his way.

You're a little bit of water, little bit of blood Little bit of reason and a little bit of luck. A little bit of fever and a little bit of love Little bit of falling, and a lot of getting up.

You're just another actress with just another agent, selling drugs to pay rent, pawning off your bracelets   Just another overweight living on left over take aways addicted to thick shakes ignoring the headaches A Bob Dylan wannabe sitting in economy pouring over poems like they're tickets to the lottery an unlucky citizen to watch the house he's living in filling with water again.

You're a little bit of water, little bit of blood Little bit of reason and a little bit of luck. A little bit of fever and a little bit of love Little bit of falling, and a lot of getting up.

Just another bride on the best day of her life, a sky diver on his ninth flight relaxing for the first time You're  just another dancer dressed up in the funk, resting in the build ups and waiting for the drums You're just another father who just met his new grandson, sitting next to grandma looking at the new mum. You're just another activist working for the peace core, just another first kiss from the boy you've got a thing for.

You're a little bit of water, little bit of blood Little bit of reason and a little bit of luck. A little bit of fever and a little bit of love Little bit of falling, and a lot of getting up.

There's no medicine or remedy For this fever furious in me It's got claws so sharp, it'll cut a man in two. There ain't no arsenal to fight it with It has eyes like ice and a vice like grip I'm flushed with with fire, I'm feverish for you. And the tonics only scratch the surface That fever grows, like a plague with purpose Made of cold sweats and a basement furnace Where the poetry purrs and the words are earnest   I wonder would it break if that person heard this A girl so fly that her skirt gets nervous with tricks so wild that you'll curse the circus If so I'm gonna write till my words are worthless No appetite could compete With this fever hiding inside me So I'm gonna sing you silent even though

You're just another version of just another person, you could have been a surgeon, you could have been a nun. I'm just another hipster, with long hair and whiskers and these pants that don't fit, sat staring at the sun. None of us are any more the wiser than any other kind of person living next to where the other rats run. So I'm just gonna write and sing, play and love my friends and drink, cause I don't have a clue to when the end is gonna come.

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Every Other Time

I do good more than I do bad I'm direct more than I'm sly But in the moments we've shared I swear you've heard me lie Seen me steal Watched me boast heard me cheat But I'm good, I swear I'm good Every other time

For the times I've offended I apologise I feel misrepresented Because I swear that I am kind, I am soft, And I'm polite, And made of warm, But I've low and I've been mean Every single time.

I can be bright in the morning I can be a gentleman at night I can be warm in the winter I can be cool around a fire I can be calm under pressure I can be balanced on a wire I can be humble when I'm winning I swear that I am kind Every other time.

Next to someone so complete I'm underdressed and unprepared You keep your regal so discrete You are gentle, you are fair You're serine You are strong And full of new & you're so good I swear I'm good Every other time.

I can be bright in the morning I can be a gentleman at night I can be warm in the winter I can be cool around a fire I can be calm under pressure I can be balanced on a wire I can be humble when I'm winning I swear that I am kind Every other time.

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Fortune Teller

Lights off, lay me down Hound me like a dog shag gagged and bound with the Lights on, shades are drawn rubbing on the wall until the papers worn She's a freak show, all do's, no don'ts wherever there's a will, there's never any wont's. Bass lines make me move Take your fingers for a walk until you feel the groove. She's a tight knit woven weave Spit shine on her hands to match her dirty knees Like a white witch with a soul like a sell out When she's good she's good but when she's bad she's better.

Oh you make me beg and plead Up on the mattress on the mezzanine. So much more love than you'd ever need She's a fortune teller

Rock and roll, open it up overdosing on sex, decibels and drugs Honky Tonk, close it shut Bad like Brando b-b-b-butter it up. Hip hop, with a little bit of jazz Inverted fingerings and boom boom bap Heartbreak, a soul undone a little bit of pain never hurt no one. Oh you make me beg and plead Up on the mattress on the mezzanine. So much more love than you'd ever need She's a fortune teller

She said, I've a crystal ball, so I can see your soul, you're conditions treatable, and I'm unbelievable, well I've a crystal ball, and you're affectionate soul is almost edible, and mine is incredible

Circus tricks, round and round I've never known a girl to be so up and down Like a theme park, with plenty of time Can't really hurt to hit one more line Like Rockstars & the morning sun I'll lay down but won't rest until it comes Billy Boothroyd; voice like a demon if you knew him you'd Niidm  

Oh you make me beg and plead Up on the mattress on the mezzanine. So much more love than you'd ever need She's a fortune teller

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Mirrors

A reflection on its own can't walk, form thoughts or cast shadows. An aimless facade stuck in glass and darkened windows can reel you in though, & can hold you close. That stalker that lingers in mirrors who keeps you company may say you look lovely, and consign kind remarks. That creep that can't seem to keep his prying eyes off you may conjure a plot to tear you apart.

Oh 'like' me please, treat me nicely seeing as we're alike, we see eye to eye, you're no more bright than me and far less lively, please, you're just light, not life. You're advice won't keep on me.

I won’t live my life through mirrors I won’t hear the messages that they deliver I am resolved too much time in the silver will kill ya I won’t live my life through mirrors I won’t hear the messages that they deliver I am resolved too much time in the silver will kill ya

Every morning, every day I here you calling, you whisper my name you make it sound innocent but hear it sinister cuz I used to live with ya so I know you intimate there’s nobody wickeder no evil equivalent not one so mean spirited or as ambivilant you can be difficult and you can be primitive at times quite devilish I'm tired of the dissonance of living so edited and sick of the grimaces I’m no instrument I’m no longer listening

That stalker that lingers in mirrors who keeps you company may say you look lovely, and consign kind remarks. That creep that can't seem to keep his prying eyes off you may conjure a plot to tear you apart.

Oh 'like' me please, treat me nicely seeing as we're alike, we see eye to eye, you're no more bright than me and far less lively, please, you're just light, not life. You're advice won't keep on me.

I won’t live my life through mirrors I won’t hear the messages that they deliver I am resolved too much time in the silver will kill ya

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Dear Nicolette

I'm not much, not such a religious man, I haven't found a reason to believe in god just yet. The notion that my thoughts are known & judged by someone else and so I should be good is simply too far fetched. But despite my divine opinion, there's a certain line I keep repeating though it doesn't make much sense. & I acknowledge it's a contradiction to my firm position but it's nice to sing, 'Thank god for Nicolette'.

She goes round and round my head turning the sadness into glad again & I keep her in a string around my leg. I keep my faith, not in a god, but in a place far more safe I keep my faith in you, I've got faith in you, Dear Nicolette.

I've never understood all of the lessons in the bible & I won't uphold the values that it does. Because it justifies hatred and the use of fear as a weapon & then condemns two gentlemen for making love.

If there's a paradise up high, that we'll all get to when we die but they'll only let you in if you're like them.. Then send me down below where all the different people go & I'll make my home next to my dear, dear, dear Nicolette.

She's a fine, fine friend of mine, a face that I can trust. There ain't no famine or no flood up there too powerful for us. Cause we rub shoulders with the poets who aren't afraid to fall in love & then knock knees with divorcees who aren't afraid of giving up. See we've got mistresses in music and expression's in our blood & when she sings, I get convinced that somewhere, someone's making love. She wraps me up in passion, see she fits me like a glove & when I think about my faith, she's the one I'm thinking of. 

She goes round and round my head turning the sadness into glad again & I keep her in a string around my leg. I keep my faith, not in a god, but in a place far more safe I keep my faith in you, I've got faith in you, my dear, dear, dear, dear, Dear Nicolette.

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Believer

You could live like a minstrel if you sing well pack your soul into a road case Or you could sell it out and mingle with the rich and wrinkled set up camp where the money's made You could turn all your jingles into singles & live a life on the cocaine But I want to keep it simple ditties keep my grin full

I've been bitten by the fever. I'm breaking out so make me a believer I've been bitten by the fever. I'm breaking out so make me a believer.

I'm aware of all the riches that I'm missing, that's why nothing can keep me Well I wanna chase the distance bathe in the sentence of the things I believe I believe in systems I believe in simple pleasures I believe in my sister I believe in the distance I believe in Christmas cause I believe in family dinners. I believe in champagne I believe in cake on your birthday and even when it isn't it I believe in faith I believe in praise But I don't believe in god cause everybody's faith is different. I believe in a first kiss In being earnest I believe in Benny Court I believe in the time in-between when it's raining and when it isn't raining anymore I believe in Oscar Wilde I believe in 'mild' but not as much as I believe in 'spicy' I believe in trying to make a living as a writer even though I know it isn't likely

I've been bitten by the fever. I'm breaking out so make me a believer. I've been bitten by the fever. I'm breaking out so make me a believer.

I believe in my best friend I believe in questions I believe in sitting on a nest egg I believe that sweetness is sometimes pungent look at vanilla essence I believe that the atmosphere that light creates is more romantic than any word, verse or phrase I believe that it's better to be 3 hours too soon than 1 minute too late. I believe in nonsense I believe the strongest of promises come out of mistakes I believe in heart ache I believe that if she had've listened she would have heard my heart break I believe that love is a constant but I prefer lust because it fluctuates I believe I owe my life to the art that I imitate.

I've been bitten by the fever. I'm breaking out so make me a believer. I've been bitten by the fever. I'm breaking out so make me a believer.

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Bubblegum

Your language is my inheritance it never ends like bubblegum It's a scary thing buried in our messaging, it's troublesome

You turn me into a blaze But you keep your love locked away. You hear me crackling and this is embarrassing but is it too late to change Or are we stuck like this?

I'm tired of unrequited love It's a childish drug like bubblegum It’s a late night curse, cause it gets worse when dusk occurs, so hurry sun

Is it too late to change Invade my space we'd rage, we'd sway but you're stuck in your ways I can wait unafraid we could trade D.N.A such a shame we're the same such a waste of real estate

You turn me into a blaze (Watch me go, I spark you up) But you keep your love locked away. (You can't be too careful these days) You hear me crackling (Yes I do) and this is embarrassing (But just for you) but is it too late to change Or are we stuck like this?

An emergency occurs in me the words you speak are cumbersome Sex and oil up against the wall bet you're flexible like bubblegum

You turn me into a blaze (Watch me go, I spark you up) But you keep your love locked away. (You can't be too careful these days) You hear me crackling (Yes I do) and this is embarrassing (But just for you) but is it too late to change Or are we stuck like this?

Like Bubblegum

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Never Go

If I fall asleep, wake me up before you leave & if by chance you can't release me from my slumber then never go never go never go never go & if I die before I wake, if my body bends and breaks I'll keep my soul wrapped up in the music that you make & you'll never go never go never go never go

You always leave me in the morning Just as the dawn is calling. And I go about my ordinary day You're gone without a warning The mercury has fallen What do I have to do to get you to stay & never go.

But I understand your nature You're like the sun and sometimes greater. But every living thing needs a little bit of rain. Or it'll never grow never grow never grow never grow. So while you're gone, I'll keep your prose. I'll take your words and keep them close. & you'll be present in the sentences you sew, & they'll never go never go never go never go.

You always leave me in the morning Just as the dawn is calling. And I go about my ordinary day You're gone without a warning The mercury has fallen What do I have to do to get you to stay & never go. I need you here when I wake up all the night time love is never enough. When the sun comes up you turn to dust,   & I'll be on my own again and so I'm sleeping in till evening.

You always leave me in the morning Just as the dawn is calling. And I go about my ordinary day You're gone without a warning The mercury has fallen What do I have to do to get you to stay & never go.

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

The Last Parade

There's a band that plays on the corner. Dressed in faded skin with brittle bones, four Artisans. & the notes they play, you can't ignore them they sting like wasps, these men who lost their marching band.

Well they play RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT- TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT into the mornings under the street lights every night since the last parade. Their beat goes KICK-KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK- KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK and still it's un-applauded they play into the black since that old crowd clapped at the last parade.

Now there's Bag of Bones Bill on the upright bass, he sways from side to side next to Johnny be Ill on the kick kick snare, keeping time. Old Man Java Joe on the clarinet blows like a steam train in '25 and all evening long, Peeping Tom plays the horn like there's a thorn in his side

Well they play RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT- TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT into the mornings under the street lights every night since the last parade. Their beat goes KICK-KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK- KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK-KIK and still it's un-applauded they play into the black since that old crowd clapped at the last parade.

They play Rocker Billie ditties down dirty and low, at the request of Java Joe & Old Man Bill sings the Blues since that bitch took his shoes and his coat. Peeping Tom pines over Jazz lines, if he had it his way- he'd never stop. Just like Johnny be Ill on the drums when it comes to Hip Hop

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Derailed

Like a child, with a train set The very definition of innocent Summer days on the floor next to the bed No sweets cause you haven't had your dinner yet. Not the type to let a train wreck never meant to let it rust, or even get it wet never meant to hurt me with what she said, like a child, she didn't quite consider it

She derailed me She derailed me She derailed me She derailed me

Baggy jeans, and a baseball cap Working writer, out of work acrobat. A little bit of water, bit of brooding bitter brat A serve of earnest and a whole lot of diplomat Not the type to speak my mind when I'm under attack an argument's about as useful as the Zodiac If I'm decided, I'm the type to never take it back I got direction but this lady made me jump the tracks

She derailed me She derailed me She derailed me She derailed me

I've gone from someone who wants to be something to something who just wants someone. One don’t expect the sting until they’re stung If she’s the sting I’ll be the victim

Soft skin and a devil stare So you can tell there ain't no angel in there She’s lost in a fanciful affair wrapped in bed sheets with bare feet and sex hair She’s switched on but still she’s unaware of what she done did with her debonair now I wanna follow her no matter when or where I meant to go straight, went left, it isn’t fair

She derailed me

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Minstrel

There's never been a day ahead of me that I couldn't spend on a melody, they've never stopped taking care of me, I've never been lonely. I'm never short on the intimate when ever I'm near an instrument. Some don't like the dark but I'm into it. I'm a Minstrel.

There's a pen where my sword would go, and though it’s not sharp, it'll cut you so I make my armour out of scribbled notes I'm a sucker for the ink flow There's a guy I gravitate towards Like a kind of musical escort Next to Tom Thum, I’m never bored I'm a Minstrel

I write like I drink thirsty, there's not an inch of me dirty, I sing my sins away, search me it's better that a shower serves me. I get lost in my fascinations, they're like another form of transportation I can get to outer space with them I'm a Minstrel

I live for the artistry There’s and open mind and heart in me, my music’s as much a part of me as my airways and arteries. I'm not the type for matrimony, cause I'm engaged to the poetry, it's never once let go of me I'm a Minstrel

May all of your secrets stay unspoken, your records and curses be broken and from all of your deepest sleeps be woken May your airways and arteries be open

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Half Time

There's this place full of bass, it's the home of booze and bar fights, where the wine stained walls are full of music line-ups. & there's this drummer on the stage he's playing poison through his arms, right? & the crowd goes quiet when the beat goes half-time.

There's a girl among the mess she's got a tattoo on her arm, kind of tipsy, more than pretty, all enchanted by the bar lights. She's been here once before, she's in the same state as last time, & her eyes roll back when the beat goes half time.

Now there's a boy too drunk to stand, sitting under the cigar signs, reciting poetry distonely, through an old guitar line. He's got the rhythm going on but the notes he's playing aren't right. & his fingers start to bleed when the beat goes half time.

There's a youngster in the bathroom putting love into his arm, trying to replace the sense of empty with the dancers in his mind. They spin an endless web of romance but love won't save his life. He takes his last shallow breath as the beat goes half time.

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

Whores and Drunks

 I left my pen and the thing I need inside tonight & right before the lights went out I guessed you felt like resting. &now alone in the dark my phone's so hard to find I'll look with you in mind, the last thing I would ask is that you'd stir. Well as long as I can here the beat of your breath remain real steady I know that it's safe to tread cause you've drifted off to sleep. & now I'm dressed and I know that it's bad to leave like this but I know it's not as heartless as what you did, so I'll wear a grin as I tuck you in.

We've got lonely minds so full of untidiness. & unreliable at best abreast a chest we may invest & yet we're still defined by a kind of untimeliness that fills our eyes.

So could it be that pain has changed my head since then & still controls the love I spend. Does it build the wall and take the peace out of my name? & has it left me less accessible to the good? In all likelihood, I'm less approachable, much less evoc-able than I'd claim. Look at the mangy criminals we became. So share a drink with me to the cowardly, to dishonour, to the modern pirates, thieves, the whores and drunks not yet laid in graves.

They've got lonely minds so full of untidiness. & unreliable at best abreast a chest we may invest & yet we're still defined by a kind of untimeliness that fills our eyes.

Written by Jamie MacDowell 

[jamiemacdowell]

Take My Grace

From Amsterdam to Berlin, & the floodways in between I just me Nicky P in Michigan, the best show I've ever seen. & I've been counting train trips and collecting hotel keys as if they keep some kind of currency.

Keep your lonely away, I'll be here in your wake, take my name, take my grace, take the world away. There ain't no reason to stay, here we're just waiters to them wages, so while there's love to be made, take my name, take my grace.

From Amsterdam to Berlin and the binges in between got lost out where there ain't no company other than Joshua trees. & I've been counting train trips and collecting hotel keys as if they keep some kind of currency. We've a gift, we've a torch, this more than reasonable fortune we were born in isn't normal we're unafforded at this rate. & in the end all we've been given- collections made to prove we lived won't replace the things we've missed so keep your greed away. Now avarice is all we learn with all these trinkets that we serve. How much would your name be worth if you lost it all? It don't take the rich to understand that all this loot can send you mad It's best to save what you'll still have once you've lost it all.

Keep my name, keep my grace & keep the company we made. Make the most of trains you take while you're still free. With open eyes go find another to keep you warm and undercover. Just as long as we have love, we'll be filthy.

From Amsterdam to Berlin and the runways in between Just made a mess in old Los Angeles, most atrocious I've ever been. & I've been counting train trips and collecting hotel keys as if they keep some kind of currency.  

Written by Jamie MacDowell

[jamiemacdowell]

The Bright Side

She's the easy on the eyes, the dulcet tone. You may know a brighter smile but I don't. She's the flavour that I seem to try the most but never quite commit to buying. She's the pride of the host and his next toast, and when the sea is in the sky, she's your raincoat. She's the apple in your pie, the smoke in your toke. She's the reason I'm alive.

She's the bright side to the darkest lines and she's a streetlight in the night. She's the glow in the twilight. The brightness in this tempo. I walk the fine line between the wide eyed and the blinded, she might bust my sight, but I won't mind, cause in the dark she's mine.

She's the love that disappeared when I came home. You may know a deeper pain but I don't. She's the I in team, she's the make believe that leaves me in a heap cause she's the backbone. She's the absentee, might be the remedy but realistically now just a photo. She's the lockless key, she's the lost at sea, she leaves me lost in time cause she's a metronome.

She's the bright side to the darkest lines and she's a streetlight in the night. She's the glow in the twilight. The brightness in this tempo. I walk the fine line between the wide eyes and the blinded, she might bust my sight, but I won't mind, cause in the dark she's mine.

She's the distance that I keep from Greville St. She's the space between the beats. She's the fresh in the air that we all breathe. She's the only thing I needed.

I've been on the up and up and I'm never coming down, I'm giving up on the ground. Well I'm Jane-bound. She's the dollar that I found, she's Hermitude up loud, she's the road out of town.

Written by Jamie MacDowell