1. |
Alinda
00:24
|
|
||
2. |
Burble
03:13
|
|||
3. |
Courtship
04:08
|
|||
This party, what a joke
Supposed to be the big night of the year
My classmates, all spiffed up
Pretending to be cooler than they are
There’s Rudy, what a rake
Big, brand-new gob of product in his hair
White collar, turned it up
He thinks that goofy dance makes him a star
Squished elbows, pushed aside
I’m back with pale wallflowers in a row
Stage central, who needs it
Look at my watch, make like its time to go
Wait! What’s that… foreign body?
Moves like he’s off in a world of his own
Stares at me, pins my eye
He seems to know I’m at the dance alone
~*~*~*~
Chorus:
He draws me in
The closer, the stronger
Its dangerous
The closer, the stronger
He draws me in
Can’t stand it much longer
I’ve got to shuttle off
Before I burn up
~*~*~*~
Still staring, makes approach
The dancers dive and tumble out the way
So courtly, takes my hand
Floats me unconscious out into display
He pivots, turns around
Deer headlight moment: how can I react?
Plunge forward, face to face
Prepare for an embarrassing impact
Last moment, bob aside
Ape Rudy ‘till my wits return again
He’s laughing, breaks the spell
Can I such ridiculousness sustain?
I got this, play the game
Keep him off balance at a safe distance
Keep weaving, circle ‘round
His gravitation powers my defence
~*~*~*~
Chorus
~*~*~*~
Just keep it moving – spin it around
When he pulls in slingshot off and rebound
You’re nimble, – you can move as you please
If he’s too close swing off on your trapeze
~*~*~*~
Instrumental
~*~*~*~
Chorus
|
||||
4. |
Wobble
00:21
|
|
||
5. |
Jupiter
03:08
|
|||
6. |
Tumbler
01:19
|
|
||
7. |
Perturbation
06:40
|
|||
Those fascinating neighbours down the street,
Impromptu at the mailbox, did invite
Her and her spouse for dinner date tonight:
The first time for all four of them to meet.
She has spent hours combing through her clothes
and scents and jewelry. Laid on the bed,
He sees them as a divination spread,
Portentous, such a strange outfit she chose.
A minor flurry to get out the door,
Already frisson crackles in the air.
Bouquet and wine in hand, off they venture
Into the suburb jungle, keen aware
Of creeping cats, lush shrubs at dusk. He rings
To face what fates the looming evening brings.
Invited in with eye contact too warm
and close, he feels his balance twist awry.
Expected host to chatter neighbourly.
Instead, the hostess smothers him in charm.
Host suavely waltzes wife, with fingertips
Onto the deck, he gestures while they chat,
Has broken her reserve, no mean feat that –
A rare, delightful laugh escapes her lips.
The hosts disarm their guests with subtle skill,
From pairs, to four-way conversations shift,
Then gather close, to finger-feast their fill.
The babble swells, their clinking glasses lift:
As hostess bids them rise up from their chairs,
Convene in mist and bubbles under stars.
Meticulously dressed, offhand and calm,
His wife slips off her clothes, slyly descends
Into the cyan steam, to her new friends,
Insinuates among them with aplomb.
Warm-floating three look back, and he’s undone.
Enticement tugs against his reticence,
Once-stable world careens off its axis.
Stark frozen, clothed, he’s now the naked one.
Suspense dangles too sharp, he must react.
Raw trembles fumble his response. Take flight!
Cast off all history to keep intact.
He flings himself, distressed, without foresight,
Without a plan, to tumble through the void,
Oblivious how his life was destroyed.
|
||||
8. |
Escape
00:34
|
|
||
9. |
Whirligig
03:17
|
|||
10. |
Return
05:52
|
|||
Verse:
Adventure exotique,
At first it was a dream:
To circle ‘round the globe,
Constrained by no routine.
From midnight clicking heels
On cobbled Paris streets
To sci-fi avenues
In scorching Dubai heat.
Her confident ascent
Spun out so easily
A storybook career
Achieved elegantly.
~*~
Chorus
Another city
Another apartment
To place her luggage in
Another assignment,
Promotion,
A new post, a new life to begin
~*~
Verse:
But in these empty hours,
Her retinue dismissed,
Without a confidant,
She feels herself adrift.
Now, perched on cafe stool
Absently scrolls her phone
No friend available,
She sips her tea alone.
This sense of floating loose
Unsettles, where’s that pull
All earthly creatures feel,
that makes life meaningful?
~*~
Chorus
Another cafe
Another neighbourhood,
To work and relax in
And new acquaintances,
To befriend,
Someone will invite her to join in
~*~
A draft of air perturbs
Her thoughts. Through open door
Her one-time lover steps,
Then halts on seeing her.
She must have dropped her jaw
Because he mimicked it:
The jolt could not constrain
A spark of their old wit.
She thought her outward arc
Had left their past behind.
Instead it’s rounded back,
They are still intertwined.
~*~
Chorus:
Another return
Another rotation
Back to the beginning
A new situation
A reset,
A new start, connection returning
|
||||
11. |
Twiddle
03:04
|
|||
12. |
Nest
07:31
|
|||
Imperious, austere,
It shimmers overhead,
The spark-set dome,
Fringed by the tossed tree tops,
Cave-black, while we crunch through
Late winter snow on moonless night.
With motion scarce perceived,
Sky wheels a westward drift.
Against its pace,
We’re but a feathered flit
Half-glimpsed among dark trees
In breaking light, while it rolls on.
Cling to the edge
Of hurtling orb
Through stark and chill of space.
Hold tight but for a moment more;
Its all the time we have.
At last we stumble home,
Knock boots on cabin steps.
Shuck off our coats,
Unbundle and flop down.
Gaze into well-banked fire:
A corridor of pulsing coals.
Snug burrowed in our nest,
We intertwine
Two separate orbits.
It feels as though we have
A boundless swath of time
To share, before the hearth grows cold.
So small, so brief,
This tenure here;
Our ancestors, amassed,
Mark but a flickering against
The celestial machine.
The morning songbird chirps:
Beyond beyond beyond…
Eventually,
The momentary poise
Of vast machinery
Will drag, decay, wend out of phase.
Until a loosed orb smacks,
With unforgiving force,
Into our own,
Smash both the worlds apart.
Cleft chunks reverberant
Soon harmonize a new order.
So still, peaceful,
It seems again.
No warbling disturbs
Smooth motion, balanced perfectly:
Will roll forever on.
|
Unthunk Bowen Island, British Columbia
Unthunk merges ancient chamber and current popular music: modal polyphony with modern instruments and lyrics. unthunk.ca
Streaming and Download help
Unthunk recommends:
If you like Unthunk, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp