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lyrics

A song will keep you honest, if not exactly brave.
Like the one stuck in my head now: it won’t come out until it’s safe.
I’ve been the lonesome mountain, and the songbird Joy;
and the ruined apple tree, and the broken boy.

Never thought I’d say it, but you remind me of her:
things she’d say used to make me have to close the bedroom door.
The way you turn your head away, like you didn’t notice me.
I didn’t like her politics, but I loved her poetry.

Our child asleep in their plaster room;
the bachelor’s buttons in their bastard bloom.
What kind of a story is this for our children?
Vile caricature, like Rumpelstiltskin?
Or the wounded sparrow, those imperfect saviors;
the broken arrow, the president’s lawyers
working overtime to justify torture.
Broken glass in your anxiety tincture.

I say I wanna spit fire, but I don’t know what I mean.
I mean I’m tired of fighting; I’m tired of everything.
And if I had my knuckles to do over again,
I would get “birdsong”, or maybe “warm rain”.

credits

from In The Dark (Awake Of Course​)​, Vol. 1, released March 29, 2021
Amina Shareef Ali - vocals, guitar, harmonica, string programming
Annah Anti-Palindrome - vocals

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Amina Shareef Ali Oakland, California

Based in Oakland, California, Amina Shareef Ali performs songs of love and struggle, of pain and wonder, of loss and redemption. Lyrics by turns poignant and sardonic are set against a backdrop of American music both traditional and modern, from folk to punk to country to jazz to rock and roll. ... more

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