Lyrics - Valentine's Day '04
Dec. 12th, 2004 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdSo there's this classic 80s pop album called The Lexicon of Love by ABC that I like a lot; it's totally theatrical, lushly orchestrated, it wallows in its drama - it's great.
The most bitter song on it is called "Valentine's Day;" it's my favourite. But that's despite an ending that's abrupt and unsupported; I think they did it that way to keep the song under four minutes long or something. It doesn't make sense, musically; it just kind of stops.
So, I've had this new arrangement in my head for a little while that I think solves the problem (and takes the song solidly over four minutes - probably around 4m30s), but it needs new lyrics to support it. Last night, I finally wrote a bunch, and that made me have to go back into the original lyrics and threw some out and edited some others, and now I've tinkered with it more today. But I kept as much of the original as I could.
Now I'm posting the whole thing here because hey, what else am I doing to do with it?
Oh yeah, since I'm being pedantically completist, I might as well note that the lyrics that are printed listed as unindented/indented pairs are sung overlapping, as per the original, and that the left column starts at forte and drops down to pp; the right column is sung by a separate singer overlapping the first, and starts almost inaudible and rises to forte.
Valentine's Day '04
Lyrics and arrangement ABC/ASCAP/R'ykandar (Dara) Korra'ti 2004
When the postman don't call on Valentine's day
And Santa Claus don't come on a Christmas Day
That umbrella won't work on a rainy day
Don't ask me, I already know
When they find you beached on the barrier reef
And the only pleasure treasured is map relief
The choice is your choice, saint or thief
Don't ask me, I already know
Yes, you took your turn and with it neatly
Had her posing oh so sweetly
Took your shot and missed her slightly
I'm sure you'd like to think you knew completely
Find destiny through magazines
Liplicking, unzipping
Boyfriends and Queens
From here to eternity,
Without in-betweens,
Don't ask me, I already know
With your heart on parade and your heart on parole
I hope you find a sucker to buy what you stole
School for scandal,
Guess who's enrolled?
So ask me, I already know
When they find you beached
On the way to June
on the barrier reef
On the way to February
When the postman don't call
You won't ever speak
on Valentine's Day
Don't need a dictionary
When the only pleasure treasured
Every time I say
is in map relief
Everytime I feel you near me
When you don't tell the truth,
Everytime I see
that's the price you pay
You holding me
When I'm shaking a hand, I'm clenching a fist
If you'd whispered a sound in the moments I missed
I might've known something somehow was somewhere amiss
I would've been there
When you take your turn
All the things they did
on the way to the garden
All the things that really hurt you
They ever more after
Every ripping pain
won't remember the call;
Every sword he plunged into you
And all that you feel is the
Even though I see
shame deep inside you
Every time I reach to touch you
The actions you take
Everyone who tries
will condemn what is pure
Loses too much
When I challenge the roses I'm not fighting for her
The tears in my flesh are the way of your order
I don't hope to know but I must need implore her
Awake and forget what you know
-- 30 --
Sections one, two, and six are unchanged. Sections four and five saw only small revisions. Sections three, seven, eight, and nine are completely or nearly completely new. Eight and nine don't have matching sections in the original arrangement at all; seven has its music changed towards the end. Music for section eight is a refrain of section six (as you'd guess); section nine is a refrain of seven with a rearrangement of the last four (or so) measures.
Down here are earlier versions of the last bit, included here since I have 'em...
When I challenge the roses I'm not fighting for you
The tears in my flesh aren't the way I adore you
I don't dare to hope but I must need implore you
Awake and forget what you know!
When I challenge the roses I'm not fighting honour
The tears in my flesh are the way of your order;
I don't know what hope is but I do implore her;
Awake, and forget what you know!
The most bitter song on it is called "Valentine's Day;" it's my favourite. But that's despite an ending that's abrupt and unsupported; I think they did it that way to keep the song under four minutes long or something. It doesn't make sense, musically; it just kind of stops.
So, I've had this new arrangement in my head for a little while that I think solves the problem (and takes the song solidly over four minutes - probably around 4m30s), but it needs new lyrics to support it. Last night, I finally wrote a bunch, and that made me have to go back into the original lyrics and threw some out and edited some others, and now I've tinkered with it more today. But I kept as much of the original as I could.
Now I'm posting the whole thing here because hey, what else am I doing to do with it?
Oh yeah, since I'm being pedantically completist, I might as well note that the lyrics that are printed listed as unindented/indented pairs are sung overlapping, as per the original, and that the left column starts at forte and drops down to pp; the right column is sung by a separate singer overlapping the first, and starts almost inaudible and rises to forte.
Valentine's Day '04
Lyrics and arrangement ABC/ASCAP/R'ykandar (Dara) Korra'ti 2004
When the postman don't call on Valentine's day
And Santa Claus don't come on a Christmas Day
That umbrella won't work on a rainy day
Don't ask me, I already know
When they find you beached on the barrier reef
And the only pleasure treasured is map relief
The choice is your choice, saint or thief
Don't ask me, I already know
Yes, you took your turn and with it neatly
Had her posing oh so sweetly
Took your shot and missed her slightly
I'm sure you'd like to think you knew completely
Find destiny through magazines
Liplicking, unzipping
Boyfriends and Queens
From here to eternity,
Without in-betweens,
Don't ask me, I already know
With your heart on parade and your heart on parole
I hope you find a sucker to buy what you stole
School for scandal,
Guess who's enrolled?
So ask me, I already know
When they find you beached
On the way to June
on the barrier reef
On the way to February
When the postman don't call
You won't ever speak
on Valentine's Day
Don't need a dictionary
When the only pleasure treasured
Every time I say
is in map relief
Everytime I feel you near me
When you don't tell the truth,
Everytime I see
that's the price you pay
You holding me
When I'm shaking a hand, I'm clenching a fist
If you'd whispered a sound in the moments I missed
I might've known something somehow was somewhere amiss
I would've been there
When you take your turn
All the things they did
on the way to the garden
All the things that really hurt you
They ever more after
Every ripping pain
won't remember the call;
Every sword he plunged into you
And all that you feel is the
Even though I see
shame deep inside you
Every time I reach to touch you
The actions you take
Everyone who tries
will condemn what is pure
Loses too much
When I challenge the roses I'm not fighting for her
The tears in my flesh are the way of your order
I don't hope to know but I must need implore her
Awake and forget what you know
-- 30 --
Sections one, two, and six are unchanged. Sections four and five saw only small revisions. Sections three, seven, eight, and nine are completely or nearly completely new. Eight and nine don't have matching sections in the original arrangement at all; seven has its music changed towards the end. Music for section eight is a refrain of section six (as you'd guess); section nine is a refrain of seven with a rearrangement of the last four (or so) measures.
Down here are earlier versions of the last bit, included here since I have 'em...
When I challenge the roses I'm not fighting for you
The tears in my flesh aren't the way I adore you
I don't dare to hope but I must need implore you
Awake and forget what you know!
When I challenge the roses I'm not fighting honour
The tears in my flesh are the way of your order;
I don't know what hope is but I do implore her;
Awake, and forget what you know!
