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LOVE . HUMANITY . METAMORPHOSIS ♥ ☆ ∞

by Melissa Axel

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1.
right in the middle of my life the telephone in my brain begins to ring and I am channeling a song about the worth of things these things are old these things are gone and we have learned to carry on, without knowing the worth of things the worth of things burning through the hollow of my gut all the thoughts of distant pasts that I have got to surpass to find a way to make this last these things are old these things are gone and we have learned to carry on, without knowing the worth of things the worth of things the worth of things the worth of things
2.
Cyndi said, "anyone listening to God ain’t hearing hate," but they still carry on with prejudiced law and inhumane lies “nourishing” souls with burger-and-fry homilies just can’t let people be … all of this fighting and all of this fear in the hearts of a people united by sheer isolation all of this fighting and all of this fear in the hearts of a people united by indoctrination I want this to stop I want love to win I mean it, I want this to stop I want love to win a big box of emptiness, circuits, and tubes is a flat-panel god on our walls now telling us sit and stand tall in our apathy rise to no challenges, build no more bridges and love nothing more of ourselves than our damages burn out or blend in, the choice is yours … but no choice stops war and bacon tastes like death but still we eat it I guess we want to taste the way out on the way in born to trump the mundane as bodies wither and wane transcend … transcend … refrain … I want this to stop I want love to win I want this to stop I want love to win I want what we feel to matter I want what we feel to matter I want peace right now I want peace right now I don’t want to wait for it, wish for it, pray for it cry for it, fight for it, bleed for it, die for it …
3.
Human Race 03:41
the world is not round it’s becoming square it’s becoming air the world is not wide it’s grown smaller and smaller burning out from the inside again and again and again and again it’s a human race to the finish line around and around and around and around we go and where it stops, nobody knows the world is not safe it’s spinning too fast now it may not last the world is not full it’s becoming flat it’s become a battleground again again and again and again and again it’s a human race to the finish line around and around and around and around we go again and again and again and again it’s a human race to the bitter end … to the bitter end but the world will not end no, the world will not end there is more to do, there is more to say, there is time to love there is more to see, there is more to hear, there is time to feel there is more to find, there is more to know there is time to forget the cares of this world again and again and again and again it’s a human race to the finish line around and around and around and around we go again and again and again and again it’s a human race to the finish line it’s a human race to the finish line it’s a human race to the finish line around and around and around and around we go and where it stops, nobody knows
4.
pigtails, she loved pigtails wore ’em every day to school hopscotch, catch me if you can but do unto them as they’d do unto you that’s the golden rule tears run, lines get blurry when you’re afraid of who you are broken crystal, shattered daydreams lonely little brilliant star when kids made fun when life got hard mommy held her hand when it was more than she could stand she would sing, soft but strong, “there is nothing wrong with you” it’s still true pigtails, she loved pigtails on her first love back in school jumped, but never caught that love … kids can be so cruel when people stare when they avert their eyes no one holds her hand but when it’s more than she can stand she still sings, soft but strong, “there is nothing wrong with you” it must be true it takes the shine off, don’t it? “‘be yourself’ but don’t be you” fit your heart into our boxes and play by our rules oh “do unto them” means nothing to you when you do this to me, is it hurting you too? but “everyone is special, everybody’s unique” that’s what they say, and I’d like to believe it so I sing, soft but strong, “there is nothing wrong with you” ‘cause it’s true oh sing, soft but strong, “there is nothing wrong with you" you know it’s true nothing wrong, there’s nothing wrong, there’s nothing wrong with you nothing wrong, there’s nothing wrong … with you pigtails, she loves pigtails ties her daughter’s hair for school taught her hopscotch and “do unto them as you’d have them do unto you” that’s the golden rule
5.
Colors 03:26
tell me how our children live their lives growing up immersed in lies like “girls are soft and sensitive, boys are strong and brave” tell me who our children think they are reaching to become a star when “what” means more than “who” or “how” from cradle to grave rocking blue, rocking pink, as we rock our kids to sleep singing, “this is who you'll be, this is what you are to me” well, you don’t have to tell me who and what and where and when and why I’ll find my own colors, like the colors of the sky there’s a kind of lullaby that robs us of our will to try like a thief who sings to you as he steals your heart there’s a kind of fairytale designed to set us up to fail when our choices aren’t our own, they’ve been scripted from the start rocking blue, rocking pink, as we rock ourselves to sleep singing, “this is who you'll be, this is what you are to me” well, you don’t have to tell me who and what and where and when and why I’ll find my own colors, like the colors of the sky and this is love, this is trust, this is how we turn to dust singing, “this is who I am: I’m a woman / I’m a man” well, you don’t have to tell me who and what and where and when and why I’ll find my own colors, like the colors of the sky … no, you don’t have to tell me who and what and where and when and why I’ll find my own colors …
6.
Sharper Side 03:23
[instrumental]
7.
if I play for one I play for all from this truth, I cannot stray fill this empty space with what my soul creates let this mind just fall away I don't need to find one way to go all I need is love, open sea and road I don't need a place to call my own when every place is home sweeping landscape surreal sunscape urban faire and country rain in the shadow of our big dreams we built a love that will sustain we don't need to find one way to go all we need is love, open sea and road we don’t need a place to call our own when every place is home every place is home picking up the pebbles, one by one city by city, touched by love distance calls us forward, out to land and sea we'll roam this whole wide world, just you and me every place is home we don't need to find one way to go all we need is love, open sea and road every place is home every place is home every place is home every place is home
8.
spring ahead to summer’s glow falling leaves and winter snow there is but one true thing I know … time is ticking, running out to find the meaning beyond the doubt we’re swimming upstream in this drought but love is all around us love in the turning of the earth, love in the racing of the wind love in the shadow of our light, in the aching of our skin it’s in the way we chase our sorrows, hunter’s bow and violin … we cannot fight it, we’ll never win love is all around us all around us … is the universe conspiring against us when our worlds come crashing down or is it just the echo of our pain turning inside out as within, so we go without still, love is all around us we cannot fight it, we’ll never win love in the turning of the earth, love in the racing of the wind love in the shadow of our light, in the aching of our skin it’s in the way we chase our sorrows, hunter’s bow and violin … we cannot fight it, we’ll never win we cannot fight it, we’ll never win we cannot fight it, love is all … it’s all … love is all around us
9.
Come & Go 03:32
come back to me don’t let me lose you in the ether you’re either gone or trapped beyond my line of insight right on time and out of touch you’re out of reach, I think too much and we never meet in the middle … how can there be a middle with no beginning and no end? ideas, they come and come and come and go ideas, born of nothing, born of knowing I know nothing of what I know … try to breathe, I try to see just where you’re leading shadows dance on our romance and leave me dry find my way back to the day when I first heard you play I knew right then you were the one but how can there be a future with no present and no past? ideas, they come and come and come and go ideas, born of nothing, born of knowing I know nothing of what I know … come back to me don’t let me lose you …
10.
Ebb & Flow 04:02
can you feel me falling, sweetheart? feet don’t touch the ground was that “one last kiss” the start? was that “I love you” the sound of a long road back on our way back home of us growing up growing old and still in love still on fire though it comes and goes ebb and flow can you hear me calling your name? we still know the words to this endless song is this “one more chance” a game or do we finally see where we belong? in each other’s arms each other’s soul love is a choice we can be whole and still in love still on fire though it comes and goes ebb and flow one last hope is all I ask one more 42nd chance at love that was the question and I’m counting on your hidden tenderness to see us through through this long road back on our way back home see us growing up growing old and still in love still on fire though it comes and goes comes and goes ebb and flow ebb and flow ebb and flow
11.
hand on the stove and burned you don’t wanna try you want me to sell you tell you why you should love me again when you know you just won’t you can’t, you haven’t, you’ll never, you don’t … you can’t help it I can’t help you it’s time to let go … foot on the gas and wind in my hair, you’re driving and smoking, you’re cool—you don’t care how I’m dying to hear the words you’ll never say you’re not sure, you hold back, you think it’s okay ‘cause I must see that you love me but it’s time to let go … time to let go you can choose to be right or you can be a lover feelings feel different when kept under cover so let’s get in bed, let this rest for tonight truth looks different in indifferent light and you hold me … like the first time, just as it’s time to let go … time to let go it’s time … time time to let go time …
12.
what if everything they taught in history never actually happened? historic buildings being built, memorials erected all to keep the illusion intact what if every morning the world is re-constructed, making us believe it’s been here for years and years … and years what if it hasn’t, what if it wasn’t, what if it isn’t all they told us it has been? what if we never knew? what if it’s fake, oh, what if it’s real? now what will we do if everything’s a grand deception? what if this merry-go-round is just one big magic trick? by the late ’80s most of my childhood was lost to the tide of time butterfly hairclips, slinky bracelets Showbiz Pizza, Rollaway Skateway who’s to say they even existed? well, who’s to say they didn’t? what if every morning the world is re-constructed making us believe it’s been here for years and years … and years what if it hasn’t, what if they weren’t just old figments of a journey into imaginary dreams? what if nothing is what it seems? what if it’s fake, oh, what if it’s real? now what will we do if everything’s a grand deception? what if this merry-go-round is just one big magic trick? it’s all in our heads this place in our hearts that stores all our memories at least the parts we can’t forget they spin around in my head … getting vacuumed up when I go to bed … this merry-go-round is just one big magic trick

about

LOVE . HUMANITY . METAMORPHOSIS represents an expansive leap forward from Axel's pensive 5-song EP Transition. Produced and mixed by Justin Peacock, the record features a wealth of talent, including Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa, Mackenzie Gault of Flobots, and string arrangements by award-winning composers Matthew Nicholl and Kailin Yong.

All proceeds from Bandcamp Friday sales will be donated to non-profits dedicated to justice and human rights.

credits

released September 20, 2011

All songs by Melissa Axel, except "Every Place Is Home" lyrics by Melissa Axel and James E. Jacoby / music by Melissa Axel,
James E. Jacoby, and Andy White

MELISSA AXEL words, music, vocals, piano, toy piano
JAMES JACOBY tuba, orchestral bass drum, harmony vocals
CURTIS BROOME drums, orchestral percussion
KAILIN YONG string arrangement, violin
TOM HAGERMAN violin
MACKENZIE GAULT viola
BETH ROSBACH cello
LESLIE DAWE cello
MIKE FITZMAURICE double bass
IAN HUTCHISON upright bass, electric bass
EDUARDO "BIJOUX" BARBOSA electric bass
ANDY WHITE acoustic/12-string guitars, electric bass
JUSTIN PEACOCK string arrangement, synth, harmonium, glockenspiel, percussion
MATTHEW NICHOLL string arrangement
TYLER GILMORE additional arranging
AYO AWOSIKA harmony vocals

Produced, engineered, and mixed by Justin Peacock
Strings on tracks 2, 4, 8, & 10 conducted by Justin Peacock
and engineered by Michael C. Morgan
Additional engineering on track 7 by Mike Destito
Assistant engineers: Steven Engel and Nick Sullivan
Mastered by Dave Locke at JP Masters
Recorded at The Hook Factory and Macy Sound Studios,
except "Every Place Is Home" recorded at Coupe Studios,
Evergroove Studios, and The Hook Factory

Painting by Laurie Maves ART
Layout design by Little Green Chair Studio

________________________ ♥ ☆ ∞ ________________________

This record is dedicated to all the beautiful children deep inside us
who still just want to be loved for who they really are.

Be brave. Choose love.

MELISSAAXEL.COM

Ⓟ Melissa Axel © Melissa Axel / Melissa Axel Music (ASCAP), except "Every Place Is Home" © Melissa Axel / Melissa Axel Music (ASCAP), James E. Jacoby / Modern Tuba Music (ASCAP) and Andy White / Mushroom Music/Chrysalis Music (ASCAP)

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Melissa Axel Los Angeles, California

Gorgeous piano, lush strings, and a fearlessly intimate vocal. Recommended if you like: Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, Tori Amos

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