Track 5 of the EP The Bell Still Rings on Her Handlebars · 2023
Hold It to the Window Light
“Something found in a biscuit tin, held to the light. I wrote the melody to turn like the glass.”
art song · art song · impressionist · 4:21
Lyrics
I found it in a biscuit tin Beneath the buttons and the string A square of grey, a scalloped edge Four people by a garden hedge The corners soft, the colours gone Your hand is raised, your coat is on Someone has just said something sweet And all of you are laughing, mid-feet I tilt it where the morning falls And shadows climb the paper walls Hold it to the window light Let the silver find its sight Every face a little lamp Burning past the faded stamp Hold it, hold it, gently now Time is held in here somehow And I am small and I am near To the day that kept you here There is a car I do not know A dog asleep, a row of snow And on the back, in pencil thin A date, a name, a place, a grin I tilt it where the morning falls And hear your voice along the halls Hold it to the window light Let the silver find its sight Every face a little lamp Burning past the faded stamp Hold it, hold it, gently now Time is held in here somehow And I am small and I am near To the day that kept you here Nobody posed, nobody knew The shutter clicked on something true A Tuesday, nothing more than that And now it is the whole of that Hold it to the window light Let the silver find its sight Every face a little lamp Burning past the faded stamp Hold it, hold it, gently now Time is held in here somehow And I am small and I am near To the day that kept you here Four people by a garden hedge Laughing at the very edge Of everything that was to be And still they laugh, and still I see