A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO HER THING
(Brand new for This CD.)
c. 2003 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
We're all part of a
collective,
we've got motives and agendas
We've got deadlines and goals set,
you know we do a lot of things.
I can't even list them
to remind me makes me sicken
I'm overwhelmed I'm stricken,
still I gotta do my thing.
When I find myself a bad, bad mood,
I'm puffy, I'm pissy , I'm pooped.
I go face to face with what it takes,
To get my butt back in the groove.
So do like me.
Go on a shopping spree
Retail therapy
A woman's gotta do her thing.
CHORUS:
A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO WHAT A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO
A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO WHAT A WOMAN SHE MUST DO
STEP BACK BABY, A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO HER THING
Do her thing, do her thing, what's her thing….
It's late at night, you're oh so blue
you're home alone some ones' calling you….
It's Ben, it's Jerry, "How 'bout a hug?"
Open that freezer and feel that love.
Take them to bed with you, hey girl get going
Take your tablespoon, hey girl get going.
Two pints should do hey girl get going,
A woman's gotta do her thing
CHORUS:
BRIDGE:
When you need permission, remember this song
from someone who's suffers like you
You're the only one standing in your way,
Girl go do, what you're gonna do….
No need to talk about it
No need to dance around it
Shut up and do
A woman's gotta do her thing.
I said…
A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO WHAT A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO
A WOMAN'S GOTTA DO WHAT A WOMAN SHE MUST DO
Step back baby,
Get on your Nikes, baby
Don't need a Doctors note
Nobody gets a vote,
WHEN A WOMAN'S GONNA DO HER THING
Back to top
SAVE ME A SEAT
(From Ghost Town Girl)
c. 1993 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
She's standing in a hard rain
waiting for the bus,
HOMEWARD BOUND
There with her umbrella she's had enough,
HOMEWARD BOUND
She's ready for the journey in her heart of hearts
HOMEWARD BOUND
Once those doors swing open they let the healing start
HOMEWARD BOUND
Get you a place by the window,
grab the isle for me
Someday when it's my turn,
look around you and there I'll be, you better
Save me a seat, oh, save me a seat.
You don't need to transfer on the freedom bus,
because it's one way bound.
You don't need a token if in god you trust,
HOMEWARD BOUND
Lay down your weary burden travel as you please
HOMEWARD BOUND
The tired and the weary find comfort in release
HOMEWARD BOUND
Get you a place by the window,
grab the isle for me
Someday when it's my turn,
look around you and there I'll be, you better
Save me a seat, oh, save me a seat.
They don't laugh at white girls who love their R &
B
HOMEWARD BOUND
You'll be dancing by the river let your soul run free
HOMEWARD BOUND
Oh, she's ready to get ready, she's got everything in a line
HOMEWARD BOUND
You gave the gift of courage go on girl it's time
HOMEWARD BOUND
Get you a place by the window,
grab the isle for me
Someday when it's my turn,
It's your shining face I long to see, you better
Save me a seat, oh, save me a seat.
She's standing in a hard rain, waiting for the
bus,
HOMEWARD BOUND
Closing her umbrella, she hands it back to us
HOMEWARD BOUND
Wave goodbye at your window,
put up your big old feet.
You'll always live inside my heart
Hold a spot for me, you better
Save me a seat, oh, save me a seat.
Back to top
TAKE ME OUT TO EAT
(This version never released)
c. 1993 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
I'm sitting in my kitchen,
oooh, I'm wishin'
they'd love my cookin; or they'd quit their bitchin'
Gonna put my foot down, make him take me uptown
Dress like a debutante, go to a restaurant.
Baby take me out, baby take me out to eat.
I want a white cloth linen and a cool pressed
napkin
A Zinfandel from an organic vineyard
Where they've got Evian on on on every table
They let you sit and linger, long as your butt is able.
Baby take me out, baby take me out to eat.
Don't wanna hit the hut.
Don't wanna slam no Mac
Don't wanna run for the border
Don't you give my no Kentucky Fried Yech,
I ain't no seafood lover,
Don't want no chili dog, no pizza burger,
Baby your baby will not be driving' though,
Unless they've got a five star review.
I wanna leave my lipstick on fine bone china
Gimme decaf espresso, don't want no insomnia
Drink my water from a sparkling crystal
Get a monkey in a tux running to my signal
Baby take me out, baby take me out to eat.
They got squid and leaks
I see those grouper cheeks,
How about that garlic veal
Can't we put aside our politics for just one meal….
They've got free range potatoes, braised with a
mango
Garnished with a twenty dollar tomato,
I don't care if it's tasty don't care if it's good
I want you spending money…..
I think you should
Baby take me out, baby take me out to eat.
You deserve a break today,
So get up and get away…..and take me out to eat!
Back to top
LORINDA LEA
(From My Good Company)
c. 1998 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music.
Brownstone tenements and
windows
barred up against the city
A sprawling lack of urban kindness,
plenty of empty handed pity
There's a rumor on the street,
spreading like wildfire
She's a devil wind, a dervish of desire,
hey there little one
You'd cartwheel down the summer breeze,
now you got the boys on their knees.
CHORUS:
Lorinda Lea, hey, Lorinda Lea,
hey hey hey, Lorinda lea,
Where ya' goin', Where ya goin'
Your momma's kneeling down to virgins
crossing holy water
She says "Mother of God be grateful
you didn't have no daughter
I tried to cleanse her soul don't be mistaken,
I washed away my shame,
and still her bodies taken, oh my little one
You were gonna be my sweet success
my ticket out my happiness"
CHORUS:
Lorinda's eyes are dark and deep,
mysterious and lonely,
Yet, they come alive when the barrio
boys lay down with their money
She dreams of wall to wall,
and cut fresh flowers,
Crystal figurines, roses in vases,
gifts from men of power, oh my little one
Is this gonna be your sweet success,
your ticket out your happiness
CHORUS: Lorinda Lea, hey, Lorinda Lea,
Back
to top
IT'S BEEN SAID
(recorded live for this CD)
c. 2003 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
It's been said I look like a
grownup,
funny I' don't feel that way.
Inside I feel like your average screw up,
just a little kid who has no say
I'm always late and so forgetful,
Where's my head when not attached
It's got to be around her somewhere
It's wearing makeup and a little hat.
It's been said I look like a woman,
I hear that from time to time
It's quite a shock when they discover,
I'm a 12 year old with a credit line
I drink directly from the carton,
I leave disasters at every sink,
I sleep with houselights on till morning,
I'm always saying what the hell I think,
It's been said, Oh, she's so charming,
Man, those people don't know me,
My naughty side would be quite alarming
should I let my inner brat run free
I fuss and whine, I eat too much candy,
I'm not one to share my toys.
I lose house keys, I leave the seat up,
I do that for my inner boy.
It's been said, we're all imposters,
shaking deep beneath our skin
We're petrified and we're always nervous,
so we don't let anybody in.
Well I for one, I'm here to tell ya,
that I myself I'm an open book.
Plain and simple I'm plenty crazy
you're welcome in to have a look.
It's been said that love can change us,
the heart is like a time machine,
If I fall in love, do you think I'll grow up,
It might not hurt for me to grow up
Three days a week, I swear I can grow up.
If you promise to stay in love with me.
Back to top
LITTLE GIRL PLEASE WAIT
(duet with Janis Ian, from My Good Company)
c. 1998 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
She was the one who kept you
so young,
now she's growing
You're caught by surprise by the look in her eyes,
you know what she's knowing
You sit back and stare into the space she leaves there,
your arms are so empty
She's borrowed your pearls,
she wants to take on the world,
but you're the one not ready..
You say…
Little girl please wait, little girl please wait
Little girls they sigh, they might cry,
but they must wait.
There's so much to tell her,
but you can no longer hold her,
you pray in a whisper
You know it's only fair that she go through her share,
heartache will find her
Blindly you trust that she will grow up
in spite of what you tell her
What she must do is uncover the truth,
there's no "happily ever after".....
But ….
Little girl please wait, little girl please wait
Little girls they sigh, they might cry,
but they must wait.
She's part of your history,
her future's a mystery,
She'll need to find levity as she takes her place.
She helps set the table, antique lace,
sterling silver, her grandmothers' china
You tell her the tales, women strong, women frail,
like hand-me-downs and heirlooms
A chip in the cup, a stain on the cloth,
a useful existence
Whether she likes them or not,
someday they'll be hers by default
They're a gift, they're a prison,
they're for
Little girls who wait, little girls who wait,
Little girls they sigh, they might cry,
But they must wait.
Will she seek loyalty inside family boundaries
She might defy gravity, and just pull away……….
Little girl please wait. Little girls we sigh,
we might cry, we must wait.
Back
to top
WHEN I WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHT
c. 1993 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
Everynight at eight o'clock,
we lay our heads for pillow talk
Hey mom, tell me true,
let me ask these things of you.
When I wake up from this night,
will there be a morning
Will the sun be shining bright,
what will I find dawning
When I wake up from this night,
will there be a forest
Will the selfish greedy ones,
take the big trees from us.
When I wake, will the rain stop coming
When I wake, will the sun stop shining
When I wake, will the gardens growing,
Stop from loving me. Tell me please.
When I wake up from this night,
will I be awaken
By sirens from a nuclear sight,
accidents can happen
When I wake up from this night,
will there be tomorrow
Will the earth have had enough,
enough of all this sorrow.
When I wake, will there be oceans
When I wake, will I still be frightened
When I wake, will there be horizons
That I cannot see. Tell me please
When I wake up from this night, oh tell me
Who on earth is gonna make it right,
When I wake up from this night.
Here I lay right beside my daughter
In my soul I've journeyed to protect her
More than that it's my job to teach her
How to love this land. I take her hand I say...
When you wake up from this night,
yes there'll be a morning
The sun's gonna be shining bright
with new ideas dawning.
And when you wake up from this night,
we'll start a new beginning
Show the earth her due respect
create new laws for living.
When you wake, we're gonna work together
When you wake, we're gonna start all over
When you wake, we'll take back forever
We will rise up strong. We don't have long.
When you wake up from this night, oh darlin'
You and I are gonna make it right
When we wake up from this night
You and I are gonna make it right
When we wake up from this night.
Back to top
MY FRIEND ELAINE
(From My Good Company)
c. 1998 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
My friend Elaine, slept in a
Volkswagon Beetle,
a convertible red one, parked under Bremerton skies
My friend Elaine loved her vegetables with the peel on,
with seeds in her teeth, and the juice on her chin
She played one mean mandolin, my friend Elaine.
My friend Elaine, hails from up there in Buffalo,
where the wicked winds still blow,
though long ago she escaped
My friend Elaine loved her beer with the next one,
drank tequila with the other one,
She played one angry mandolin, my friend Elaine
20 years later where is she,
20 years later, I feel her with me
20 years later, I sit with the memory
of a renegade gypsy, a young girl, a ghost
My friend Elaine made her living on a tugboat,
made her home in her pocket, while cooking for sailors
My friend Elaine, was the rarest of rare birds,
who'd take off with no word, hey, where ya goin' Elaine?
20 years later I'm still here,
20 years later, I worry with fear
That in 20 more years, I'll lose my memory
of a renegade gypsy, a young girl, a ghost
My friend Elaine, took to singing and sailing,
from Capetown, Africa, New Zealand, back to Zaire
Then today comes a photo, from a soiree in Uganda,
she was decked up in a party dress,
Yes, that would be my friend Elaine
She was posing in a black satin formal,
with a white beaded collar that hung off her shoulders
She stood by a table laid for a banquet,
in big hair and makeup,
it's looking like dry-dock, Elaine.
20 years later, she's right there,
20 years later, no signs of fear
And in 20 more years, I will pull out this picture
of a beautiful gypsy, this elegant renegade,
no longer a young girl, no longer a ghost
She made landfall in lilies,
My friend Elaine.
|
THE BALLAD OF HARRY AND ESTHER
(From Unraveled)
c. 1991 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
He met her in college, there
in the ballroom.
He met her while learning to dance
He was inwardly awkward,
and she was outgoing
She seemed to be spinning so fast.
Always uptempo, always one step ahead.
Again and again she'd say no
He wanted her for his partner,
but she moved on with another...
But still he loved her so.
There in the frat house, now they were seniors.
He met her while drinking a beer
He was painfully quiet,
she was drunk, loud, and boisterous.
Crazy, but they married that year
She was a noisy girl, she railed in high decibels
and he always went with the flow
Then came the babies, she got fat, she went crazy....
But still he loved her so.
True love, true love, it's strong like a diamond,
strong like her tears
True love, true love, it's a mystery...a mystery
There in her bedroom,
he opens her window.
She's caught in that season of change.
She feels so hopeless, so ugly and fruitless.
To him her beauty remains.
He sometimes wonders
how he ever caught her.
He knows that he'll never let go.
But she tries to test him,
she will nag and upset him
But still he loves her so.
True love, true love,
it's strong like her diamonds
strong like her fears
True love, true love,
it's a mystery...a mystery
There on the front porch, all alone after supper.
He met her just closing her eyes.
She passed on before him,
the one girl who adored him.
She ordered him home one last time.
They were always together,
she was always demanding.
He wasn't one to say no.
He wanted her for his partner,
and in that ballroom he joined her.
Because he loved her so.
Back to top
WILD BERRIES
(From Enclosed)
c. 1983 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
A young girl on the highway
stranded in the snow
December south of Cleveland, Ohio.
I'm stopping out of pity for a stranger I don't know
Just a young girl on the highway, like me so long ago.
I check my rearview mirror and I'm taken by surprise
By silver studded strands of hair in the bangs around my eyes,
Oh, my eyes.
She's frail but she is handsome just 19 or so.
Dropping out of Antioch and drifting like the snow
On her way to Boston to make dinner for some friends
"Guess to where I'm off to next" she said "India. . .
. . like the wind I'm off and running, I'm alone there is no race"
I saw a silver studded diamond pin and a smile upon her face,
Oh, her face . . it said:
CHORUS
Come with me, go with me
We will be free birds again
You'll see, just like me,
We will be free birds and when
You fly there's no time only
Your wings and your free.
She speaks of her adventures, Alaska and the ice
Wildberries on a doorstep in springtime paradise.
I'm off to the city to window shop downtown
I make a little money like a slave it ties you down, but this
Spirit right beside me she's off to see the world
And my silver studded memory longs to be just like this girl,
Just like this girl. . . she says:
CHORUS
Come with me, go with me
My free bird generation's come and gone, what's
left behind
But a young girl on the highway, the last berry on the vine
Our lost forgotten causes lie deep within her eyes,
Where berries grow on doorsteps there in paradise,
And I look into her garden, I see myself upon that vine
I see silver studded dew that falls on berries lost in time
Lost in time:
CHORUS
Come with me, go with me.
Back to top
WHATEVER WE DID
(From Unraveled)
c. 1991 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
I lie her homesick, though I
lie at home
Awake with thoughts of sweet friends,
Women grown and gone
Back when we were younger,
we clung in a clique
And ran like schools of minnows.
Whatever we did, whatever we did
pretty girls dancing in the gym
Whatever we did, whatever we did
we were spinning on the southside
Whatever we did, whatever we did
braced against Chicago's dirty wind
Whatever we did, whatever we did
we were visions from the southside
That's my neighborhood.
We could be cruel, we could be kind
We'd be judgmental just to pass the time
Nobodies mama had an only child,
we'd lay the law through a lipstick smile
Loyal and faithful, two-faced and then
We vowed to remember, I try to forgive...
Whatever we did, whatever we did
I'm looking back, I'm looking in
Whatever we did, whatever we did
we had secrets on the southside
Whatever we did, whatever we did
might cut you off, might let you live
Whatever we did, whatever we did
I landed on the outside
That's my neighborhood.
Hometown visits gonna drive you wild
Streets are frosted shiny blue
I tend to thing we turned out alright
But I wonder what they've been through…
I heard…
Some would do away with men,
Some would leave home again and again.
Some would chase a dream or two,
Find a lover and that's all they do
But you keep a line along the way,
it all comes back to you again some day
Who stayed married, who's got kids,
there we go again...
I can tell you how they've truly been.
Some would spend their nights at war
Some get hurt and go back for more
Some would find a cross to bear,
carry that burden everywhere
Me I struggle for peace of mind,
Live by example, I try to be kind
I will raise a compassionate child
Lessons from the Southside,
That's my neighborhood.
Back to top
BOY
ON WHEELS
(From My Good Company)
c.1998 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
Little tike riding on his little trike
roaring through the neighborhood
A sunny little towhead, tornado all in bright red,
he's looking good,
he's just a boy on wheels,
he's just a boy on wheels.
Mom's a little nervous, the kid's a little
reckless,
he up and goes,
Papa says "it's all right, Mom's a little uptight"
inside he knows,
that's just a boy on wheels,
he's just a boy on wheels.
Wind up the wind, and away we go,
there's no point in going, if you gotta go....slow!
Later in the sixties, racing on a ten speed, look
how he flies.
Ride's the streets everywhere, he no longer cuts his hair, it's his
disguise,
his mother cries..."Oh my…he's a girl on wheels"
Moms a little nervous, the kid is acting
senseless,
she wants him home
Papa says "It's okay, he needs to find his own way,
leave him alone, inside he knows...
That's just a boy on wheels,
Wind up the wind, and away we go,
there's no point in going, if you gotta go....slow!
There's a motor bike in college,
he smokes a little foliage, out in LA
He tanks her up and shifts her,
hangs out like a drifter in Monterey
He loves the way it feels, to be a boy on wheels
Now there's a girl, on skates she flies,
she steals his heart their life goes rolling by.
Their kids are off an running' he
thinks about retiring, he can't sit still
He needs to find the answers to
move a little faster up, up, over the hill
She buys him brand new wheels,
two seater stud-mobile
Youth cannot escape him
when he's set in motion
from underneath the hood
Gotta sunburn on his bald head,
tornado in a corvette, he's looking good
He's just a boy on wheels,
that's just a boy on wheels.
Wind up the wind, and away we go,
there's no point in going if you gotta go slow
So say the boys on wheels, so say the boys on wheels.
Back to top
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
(This is a new live version for this CD)
C.1990 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
On our corner, there's this
nice man,
his name is Mark, he's always smiling
He's got this mom who comes on Wed.
in the evening with soup so steaming
He shares his house with his friend Martin,
They're not brothers, they're not cousins.
My little girl wonders all about these men,
I take hold of her hand, I begin.
Home is where the heart is,
no matter how the heart lives
Inside your heart where love is,
that's where you've got to make yourself
….at home.
Through the yard live Deb and Tricia,
with their drills and ladders and their room addition
My kid yells over are you having a baby,
they wink and smile and say, "Someday maybe"
Through their doors go kids and mommies,
funny how you don't see the daddies go in.
My little girl wonders 'bout the house with no men,
I take hold of her hand, I begin
Home is where the heart is,
no matter how the heart lives
Inside your heart where love is,
That's where you've got to make yourself
….at home.
'Round the corner, here comes Martin,
he's alone now, he tries smilin'
He roams around his well stocked kitchen,
he knows that fate will soon be comin'
My little girl wonders where will he live,
I take hold of her hand and I begin
Home is where the heart is,
no matter how the heart lives
Inside your heart where love is,
that's where you've got to make yourself
…..at home.
Martin sits and waits with his window open,
his house is empty his heart is broken
We bring him toys and water colors,
he loves to hear my little baby's stories.
She's the gift I share, she's his companion,
she's the string on the kite
She guides him up into the wind.
My little girl wonders who will care for him,
We take hold of his hand, we begin,
lets begin now.
Home is where the heart is,
no matter how the heart lives
Inside your heart where love is,
that's where you've got to make yourself
…..at home.
Back to top
THE RETURN
(From Unraveled)
c.1991 Sally Fingerett
Green Fingers Music
Tossed to the stars and a
baby goes sailing
Out on a sea, under quiet night skies
Dark blue and waiting, it's there she does carry,
Out and away, it's her heart that will never return.
Born of a love where the gift is the giving
Born of two hearts are just one pair of eyes
Deep blue and wanting, your soul and your reason
Caught unaware, it's your old life that never returns.
Promise me, promise me, you will outlive me
That's the natural order, the way it should be
Then break from me and take from me all you can carry
It's nature, it's nurture and then it's your turn
And as I teach you I learn.
Tossed in the air, and your baby goes flying
Into the sun under wide open skies
Bright blue and shining, she's earth bound and running
There in her eyes, it's your love that will always return.
Back to top
ENGINEER
(Recorded for this CD as an edited version)
C. 1979 PEGGY SEEGER
By permission of Storm King Music
When I was a little girl, I
wished I was a boy,
Tagged along behind the gang and wore my corderoy
Everybody said I only did it to annoy,
I was gonna be an engineer.
Mama told me can't you learn to be a lady,
your duty is to make me the mother of a pearl
Well wait until you're older dear and baby,
you'll be glad that you're a girl.
Now when I went to school
I learned to write and how to read
Some history geography and home economy
Typing is a skill that every girl is sure to need
to while away the extra time until it's time to breed
And then they have the nerve to say
"What would you like to be?"
I said "I'm gonna be an engineer".
No you only need to learn to be a lady,
the duty isn't yours to try and run the world
An engineer could never have a baby,
remember dear that you're a girl.
So I became a typist and I studied on the sly,
working everyday and night so I could qualify
And every time the boss came in he'd pinch me on the thigh
Say "I've never had an engineer"
Now you owe it to the job to be a lady,
it's the duty of the staff to give the boss a whirl,
Well the wages that you get are crummy maybe,
but it's all you get cuz you're a girl.
So Jimmy came along and we set up a conjugation,
we were busy every night with love and recreation
I spent my days at work so he could get his education
Now he's an engineer, and he said.
"I know you'll always be a lady,
it's the duty of my darling to love me all her life
Now could an engineer respect me and obey me,
remember dear that you're my wife!"
As soon as Jimmy got a job, I began again,
I was happy at my 9-5 a year or so and then
Well, the morning that the twins were born,
Jimmy said to them "Kids, your momma was an engineer.
Now you owe it to the kids to be a lady,
dainty as a dish rag, faithful as a cow.
Well stay at home you got to mind the babies,
remember you're a mother now!"
So every time I turn around
there's something else to try,
like cook a meal, or mend a sock,
or try and stay alive,
Well I listened to my Jimmy and it
was just a bunch of jive
I was gonna be an engineer
Now I really wish that I could be a lady,
I'd do the lovely things that a ladies supposed to do
I wouldn't even mind if only
they would pay me,
then I could be a person too.
Well now that times are harder
and old Jimmy got the sack,
I went down to Vickers,
they were glad to have me back.
I'm a third class citizen,
my wages tell me that,
but I'm a first class engineer.
And then the boss says
"You know we pay you as a lady,
you only got this job, cause I can't afford a man
With you a keep the profits high and baby,
you're just a cheaper pair of hands!"
Well I listened to my mother
and I joined a typing pool…..
I listened to my love and
I put him through his school….
But if I listen to the boss
I'm just a bloody fool,
and an under paid engineer
I've been a sucker ever since I was a baby,
as a daughter as a wife, as a mother and a dear
So I'll fight them as a woman,
not a lady,
I'll fight them as an ENGINEER!
Back to top |
