music

All is full of love…

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes we need to take time to remember “All Is Full Of Love”
You’ll be given love

You’ll be taken care of

You’ll be given love

You have to trust it
Maybe not from the sources

You have poured yours

Maybe not from the directions

You are staring at
Twist your head around

It’s all around you

All is full of love

All around you
All is full of love

You just ain’t receiving

All is full of love

Your phone is off the hook

All is full of love

Your doors are all shut

All is full of love!
All is full of love

All is full of love

All is full of love

All is full of love

All is full of love

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Narrow Margins

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

I can’t ever get this song out of my head. The words, oh the words, they say my all thoughts. The melody gets me in the pit everytime.

“Narrow Margins”
I can’t live this way

Breaking all my rules again

Choking on my gin

You push ’til I give in

‘Til the loser always wins
Somehow with his beckoning

Bruising with his threads

Confusing what he says

But I won’t live that way

Though I kind of want to anyway

Kind of want to play

With all the pretty and the pure

Well I return to the earth

I return to the dust

No more beauty by the pound

And this I do not trust
‘Cause nothing forgives

Rules and narrow margins

In our lives

It’s rules and narrow margins

But I will slip by
I can’t find the time

I don’t know the future

I couldn’t bring that past back

I waste what little time I have
But I swear I almost touched it

Yet it slipped between my fingers

Sent shivers down my spine

Cut a splinter in my mind
But it wasn’t nothing, again

These rules and narrow margins

But our life

Is rules and narrow margins

But I will slip by
Rules and narrow margins

Rules and narrow margins

But I will slip by
Half Moon Run

Small Mountain

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

Dear Wolf,

Are you a mountain wolf? Mountains remain as a strong image for me. They are huge and frightening yet remain firm. We try to conquer them and scale their heights but they are there, long after our struggles played out on their surfaces are gone.

MIDLAKE | Small Mountain

The rise and the fall upon small mountain
Was fair not for all in need
And I with my life has gone
Away from this land of gold
Formed from the seed aligned for all that fortune brings
And all that certain men lay upon it when anger is seen
And it reigns like the others
Giving what all it can
While the days count for nothing
Nothing that one understands
Upon that road I had struggled to find
A way of life that was common for all
And all that runs on the mountain was mine
A way of life that will surely be gone
Poor lands will grow
Among the weeds among the roads
And all are anxious for song and dance
That will sometimes get old
And it reigns like the others
Giving what all it can
While the days count for nothing
Nothing that one understands
Upon that road I had struggled to find
A way of life that was common for all
And all that runs on the mountain was mine
A way of life that will surely be gone
https://open.spotify.com/track/0kXOvyA8qvkmuhzcUIDeEO

 

Small Hands

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment
Miss you terribly already,
Miss the space between your eyelids,
Where I’d stare through awkward sentences
And avoid through awkward silence
Miss your teeth when they chatter,
When we smoked out in my garden
When we couldn’t sleep for all the heat,
Soft talk began to harden.
Miss your small hands in the palm of mine
The fact they’re good at making,
Miss your sitting up incessantly,
And the fact you’re always waking in the night, night.
And I,
I hope for your life
You forget about mine
Forget about mine
Miss your teeth dug in my shoulder,
As we rolled in early morning,
Miss your arm dying beneath me,
As I lay there simply yawning
Please forget me, you were right dear,
I am cold and self-involved,
And though I’ll miss you, recent lover
I am weak and therefore fold
Get distracted by my music,
Think of nothing else but art
I’ll write my loneliness in poems,
If I can just think how to start
Dot my I’s with eyebrow pencils,
Close my eyelids, hide my eyes,
I’ll be idle in my ideals,
Think of nothing else but I.
I, and I
And I,
I hope for your life
You can forget about mine
Just forget about mine
Oh, mine.
Keaton Henson
https://open.spotify.com/track/40jiZBsr1W3SG15AGU9227

Starálfur

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

A Glastonbury a long time ago, the Other Stage, a sunset. Nostalgia.

Blá nótt yfir himininn
Blá nótt yfir mér
Horf-inn út um gluggann
Minn með hendur
Faldar undir kinn
Hugsum daginn minn
Í dag og í gær

Blá náttfötin klæða mig í
Beint upp í rúm
Breiði mjúku sængina
Loka augunum
Ég fel hausinn minn undir sæng

Starir á mig lítill álfur
Breytir mér í, en hreyfist ekki
Úr stað – sjálfur
Starálfur

Opna augun
Stírurnar úr
Teygi mig og tel (Hvort ég sé ekki)
Kominn aftur og allt allt í lagi
Samt vantar eitthvað
Eins og alla veggina

(Starir á mig lítill álfur)
(Breytir mér í)

Úr stað – sjálfur
Ég er…

In English

Staring Elf

Blue night across the sky
Blue night over me
Disappeared out my window
With hands
Folded under cheek
Thinking about my day
Today and yesterday

I dress in the blue pajamas
Straight into bed
Spread the soft covers
Close my eyes
I hide my head under covers

A little elf stares at me
Runs towards me, but doesn’t move
From its place – itself
Staring elf

I open my eyes
Wipe the crusts out
Stretch and check (whether I haven’t)
Come back and everything is alright
Still something is missing
Like all the walls

(A little elf stares at me)
(Runs towards me)

From its place – itself
I am…

Reflecting Light

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

May we all reflect the moon’s light. She offers something mysterious, fleeting yet secure.

Now that I’ve worn out
I’ve worn out the world
I’m on my knees in fascination
Looking through the night
And the moon’s never seen me before
But I’m reflecting light

I rode the pain down
Got off and looked up
Looked into your eyes
The lost open windows
All around
My dark heart lit up the skies

Now that I’ve worn out
I’ve worn out the world
I’m on my knees in fascination
Looking through the night
And the moon’s never seen me before
But I’m reflecting light

Give up the ground
Under your feet
Hold on to nothing for good
Turn and
Chasing you
Stand-alone and misunderstood

Now that I’ve worn out
I’ve worn out the world
I’m on my knees in fascination
Looking through the night
And the moon’s never seen me before
But I’m reflecting light

Sam Phillips

Trouble of the World

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

This evening I finished watching the stunning, brutal and heartbreaking Alex Haley’s Roots on BBC4. I read this book when I was 18 and remember it as a life changing story. Life changing for me because it demonstrated just how important knowing our story is. Lots to think about and I loved the inclusion of this song…

Soon I will be done
With the troubles of the world
Troubles of the world
Troubles of the world
Soon I will be done
Troubles of the world
I’m going home to live with God

No more weepin’ and wailin’
No more weepin’ and wailin’
No more weepin’ and wailin’
I’m going home to live with my Lord

Soon I will be done
With the troubles of the world
Troubles of the world
Troubles of the world
Soon I will be done
Troubles of the world
I’m going home to live with my Lord

I want to see my mother
I want to see my mother
I want to see my mother
I’m going home to live with God

Soon I will be done
With the troubles of the world
Troubles of the world
Troubles of the world
Soon I will be done
Troubles of the world
I’m going home to live with God

MAHALIA JACKSON

I know It’s Over

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

The Smith’s remind me of a time I was working for the Youth Service. I was a fiercely passionate about the young people I worked with as they were for The Smiths twenty years too late. This song for me has so much resonance with my life but more because of that memory.

Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
And as I climb into an empty bed
Oh well, enough said
I know it’s over, still I cling
I don’t know where else I can go, oh

Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
See, the sea wants to take me
The knife wants to slit me
Do you think you can help me?

Sad veiled bride, please be happy
Handsome groom, give her room
Loud, loutish lover, treat her kindly
Though she needs you
More than she loves you

And I know it’s over, still I cling
I don’t know where else I can go
Over and over and over and over
Over and over

I know it’s over
And it never really began
But in my heart it was so real
And you even spoke to me, and said

“If you’re so funny then why are you on your own tonight?
And if you’re so clever then why are you on your own tonight?
If you’re so very entertaining then why are you on your own tonight?
If you’re so very good-looking, why do you sleep alone tonight?”

“I know ’cause tonight is just like any other night
That’s why you’re on your own tonight
With your triumphs and your charms
While they’re in each other’s arms”

It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind
Over, over, over, over, over
It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate
It takes guts to be gentle and kind
Over, over

Love is natural and real
But not for you, my love
Not tonight, my love
Love is natural and real
But not for such as you and I, my love

Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh mother, I can even feel the soil falling over my head
Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head
Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head

 

Audition (The Fools Who Dream)

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

Well this was just beyond beautiful, and this comes from someone who often dislikes musicals. La La Land appealed to the old fashioned wild one in me. the one who gets up and tries again, takes the knock down, and finds beauty. I sobbed my heart out.

My aunt used to live in Paris
I remember, she used to come home and tell us
stories about being abroad and
I remember that she told us she jumped in the river once
Barefoot

She smiled
Leapt, without looking
And She tumbled into the Seine!
The water was freezing
she spent a month sneezing
but said she would do it, again

Here’s to the ones
who dream
Foolish, as they may seem
Here’s to the hearts
that ache
Here’s to the mess
we make

She captured a feeling
Sky with no ceiling
Sunset inside a frame
She lived in her liquor
and died with a flicker
I’ll always remember the flame

Here’s to the ones
who dream

Foolish, as they may seem
Here’s to the hearts
that ache
Here’s to the mess
we make

She told me:
A bit of madness is key
to give us new colors to see
Who knows where it will lead us?
And that’s why they need us

So bring on the rebels
The ripples from pebbles
The painters, and poets, and plays

And here’s to the fools
who dream
Crazy, as they may seem
Here’s to the hearts that break
Here’s to the mess we make

I trace it all back
to then
Her, and the snow, and the Seine
Smiling through it
She said
She’d do it, again

 

Nostalgia

~ Vicki Oliver ~ Leave a comment

This one is for the man who helped me beyond what he will ever know. For the moments of conversation and kind words. For paying interest even if fleeting. For showing me there is something more to me and new posibilites. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and cheekiness.

Tram wires cross Melbourne skies
Cut my red heart in two
My knuckles bleed down Johnston street
On a door that shouldn’t be in front of me

Twelve thousand miles away from your smile
I’m twelve thousand miles away from me
Standing on the corner of Brunswick
Got the rain coming down and mascara on my cheek

Oh whisper me words in the shape of a bay
Shelter my love from the wind and the rain

Crow fly be my alibi
And return this fable on your wing
Take it far away to where gypsies play
Beneath metal stars by the bridge

Oh write me a beacon so I know the way
Guide my love through night and through day

Only the sunset knows my blind desire for the fleeting
Only the moon understands the beauty of love
When held by a hand like the aura of nostalgia