Patti DeRosa

SECRETS AND STORIES

In the corners, in the shadows

Where mystery resides

In the crack around the sill that lets in the chill

Is where the secrets and the stories lie.

In the pause between all the words

In the hesitant delay

In the darkest part of night before the sun shines bright

Is where the secrets and the stories stay.

CHORUS #1:

What if our words just peeled off their clothes

Got down got dirty, naked and exposed

Would that reveal the bareness of our minds

If we left all our apparel in a pile behind?

In the hush between two lovers

In the space between a woman's thighs

In the waiting for a kiss from breathless lips

Is where the secrets and the stories hide.

CHORUS #2:

What if our words just peeled off their clothes

Let down our guard, let go of control

Could we disrobe, could we express

All the dressed up feelings we try hard to repress?

There are things said in a whisper

There are things we dare not say

In minimal disclosure and underexposure's

Where the secrets and the stories play.

What do we say, what do we shout out

What do we hold inside?

In the silence of the sighs between truth and lies

That's where secrets and stories hide.

CHORUS #2 and #1

ITALIAN HEART

It's daybreak on the mountain

The sun is peaking through

The piazza's ancient arches frame

This picture-perfect view.

The air is thick with coffee

The men set up their stalls

Women sell fresh vegetables

In black embroidered shawls.

I leave today to find a new life far across the sea

But this will always be the place that feels like home to me

My gaze is on the mountain and the village that is mine

But my heart is breaking open 'cause I know it's the last time.

CHORUS:

Canta, canta che ti passa (TRANSLATION: Sing until it passes…)

Sing until the bad times fall apart

Drink your wine and raise your glasses

And never lose your true Italian heart.

I sailed across the ocean

To where these buildings stand so tall

Mountains of concrete and brick

I can't see sky at all.

And I think back to my village

I left hoping for the best

Working hard to build a life

And praying for the rest.

My true love died too early and eight children look to me

To keep us all together, to preserve our family.

We never have much money. I can't find a job that pays

But we still have each other so we're rich in other ways.

CHORUS

BRIDGE:

Hold on, hold on to it tight

Feel the pulse within your heart at night

Cara mia, carry me along

Carry on my memory when I'm gone.

One hundred years of living

And Italy still calls

I hear her in the breeze at dusk

Before the evening falls.

Granddaughter, you're the one who's left to carry on

I taught you to remember your sweet Italian song.

Sing it, sing it loud, sing it out with pride

It's one gift I made sure to give you before I died.

CHORUS La vita e bella, e molto bella…..

BRIGHT LIGHTS ON A DARK ROAD

Darkness settles in on me like heavy fog

And hovers as my night turns into black

Like shadows in the headlights, what's real just fades away

And I fear this time it won't be coming back

It didn't use to be this way, I still remember when

Everything was bright and crisp and clear.

CHORUS:

Bright lights on a dark road

Shine...light my way home.

The New York City subway is such a lonely place to be

I make my money selling batteries

Voices in my head, they keep me company

When the people on the train steer clear of me

The voices just get louder, now they're shouting over me

Drowning out the memory of who I used to be.

CHORUS

Wandering the streets at night, talking to myself

Trying to remember when I was someone else

Someone with a future, someone with a plan

Someone with a family, now I just don't give a damn.

Don't try to reach me, you can't cut through my despair

And I can't find the strength to care.

CHORUS

TELL ME AGAIN

I should know better now

I should know where I'm going

I shouldn't make the same mistakes

Traveling 'round in circles

Detours, dead end streets

Ending up in the same place

I need direction but the road map

Lays crumbled at my feet

From being used too many times

Left to rely on hunches, trust my intuition

But I can't read the signs.

CHORUS:

Tell me again this is not what I have seen before

Tell me again how this is new

Tell me again you're not like all the other ones

Tell me again and again

I've been down this road

Feels like a million times

It won't be my last

I don't travel lightly

My shoulders get so weary

Hauling 'round bags from the past.

Ghosts surround me now

Breath like ice upon my neck

They laugh at me inside my head

You can't run away

There will be no sleep for you

We'll follow you inside your bed.

CHORUS

Go away, I tell them

I don't need you anymore

Find another place to play

Apparitions of my own creation

I let you in, I'll make you go away.

CHORUS: Tell me again this is not what I have seen before

Tell me again it's safe to feel

Tell me again you're not like all the other ones

Tell me again and again

Tell me again and again and again and again and again..

COMPLICATED WOMAN

CHORUS:

This is what I offer, take me as I a

This is what I offer, take me as I am

I'm a complicated woman.

I'm simple and I'm complex; I'm basic and extreme

Simple and I'm complex; Basic and extreme

I'm reckless and I'm cautious, and somewhere in between.

Serious and silly, I'm happy and I'm sad

I'm an angel and a devil - a good girl and I'm bad.

BRIDGE:

Don't try to find the reason, don't try to find the rhyme

Don't wrack your mind with questions and with doubt

Don't try and solve the mystery, don't go looking for a plan

Don't try to figure what I'm all about.

Fearful and courageous; I'm quiet and I'm loud

I got a streak of humble, and a double streak of proud.

Cynical and hopeful, I'm strong-willed and I'm weak

Make no doubt about it, I'm a woman that's unique.

CHORUS

I REMEMBER YOUR FACE

Such an unlikely meeting

Two ships that pass in the night

Searching across a dark ocean

Saved by a flicker of light

Off to uncharted waters

Landing on unknown terrain

Yet you feel so familiar

You've always known my name

CHORUS:

These are the things I think of

When I recall your embrace

These are the things I think of

When I remember your face.

In a room lit with candles

Burning slow as hours pass

Kisses and deep conversation

Rain beating hard on the glass

You're a candy red apple

With sweetness running straight to the core

You're a big box of crayons

Filled with colors I long to explore

BRIDGE:

Say goodbye in the morning

My eyes follow as you walk away

Nothing more I can say now

I only know I want you to stay….please stay

But we're just here for a moment

Only dock for one day

Then it's time to lift anchor

And wave goodbye as we sail away

CHORUS 2X

WAITING IN NEW ORLEANS

We knew a storm was coming, we'd heard the news reports

Been through years of warnings but they always came up short

This time it was different, we could smell it in the air

Anticipation, tension everywhere

Then the wind began to rise, alarming in it's wrath

When the rains began to fall, they came down hard and fast

Nothing could prepare us for that unfamiliar sound

As rising water took the city down.

CHORUS:

We were waiting - for help that never came

We were waiting - all we got was blame

We were waiting - for God to intervene

Waiting in the streets of New Orleans

Flood waters raging, no means of escape

Buses getting tangled up in government red tape

The poorest and the darkest, the youngest and the old

Pinned our hopes on lies that we were told.

While politicians argued, we were stranded in the street

They claimed that they were coming soon, but we saw no relief

Babies died in mama's arms, no food to eat

Devastation total and complete

CHORUS

BRIDGE:

Upside-down priorities and limited concerns

Shifting money from the people into corporate returns

Unheeded cries for justice banging at the door

While money flows like water to support another war.

On the ground we worked together, in the water we were strong

Taking care of those in need, as we carried them along

Had to do it on our own, fighting for our lives

The human spirit rising to survive.

CHORUS

SECRETS IN THE FAMILY

Dolls and toys and bikes and boys

We were girls just having fun

Never gave a second thought

To what the grown folks might have done

'Cause we were only children

Playing children's games

Much too young to notice

How much our faces looked the same.

CHORUS:

Secrets in the family, shadows in the dark

Secrets kept for far too long can tear your world apart.

An act of fate one autumn night

Tore open all the lies

It tore us from each other

And it re-arranged our lives

The last time that I saw you

Was on your wedding day

Now miles and years and trials and tears

Have turned our hair to gray

The damage raged from home to home

Roaring like a twister

Taking all that was in its path

Taking my own sister

BRIDGE:

Decades passed until one day

I heard your voice so plain

My waiting heart was pounding loud

As I heard you say may name

CHORUS

We can't recapture time that's gone

We can't regain what's lost

We can't begin to tally up

Or calculate the cost

Our family tree's still standing

Though it's had to twist and bend

But it's roots are strong and anchored deep

We won't get lost again.

CHORUS 2x

HAVE I EVER TOLD YOU?

Have I ever told you

How it feels within your arms?

Nestled safe and warm inside

Protected from all harm.

Your head upon my pillow

Watching you at rest

Breathing in and breathing out

My head upon your chest.

CHORUS:

It's these tender moments

Lying face to face

Sharing heartbeats, sharing breath

Sharing an embrace.

Like a passing cloud across the sun

Any trouble drifts away

Leaving clear sky

For one more day.

When you reach and touch me

Lying in our bed

Passion spreads across my sky

Like a sunset blazing red.

Soft lips pressed together

Kisses long and deep

Bodies rocking back and forth

Then drifting off to sleep

CHORUS

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Spontaneous combustion - sparks igniting up a fire

Incidental introduction - destiny of new desire

Pulling me in like suction - feel my footing slipping away

Irresistible abduction - lost my will to disobey.

CHORUS:

Speeding down the highway

Racing on my own

Driving fast, full speed ahead

Straight into the danger zone.

Insatiable sensation - begging me for no more delay

It's a dangerous temptation - with warning signs to stay away

Forbidden destination - landing on exotic shores

Not a moment's hesitation - keeps me coming back for more.

BRIDGE:

Someone slam the brakes on

Someone grab my keys

Better change direction fast

It's a vehicular emergency

Undeniable attraction - magnets from opposing poles

Escalating chain reaction - force of nature, no control

Indescribable distraction - loss of focus, nothing is clear

Temporary satisfaction - overwhelms then disappears

CHORUS

RESTLESS

Something's going on, something's not quite right

I've been losing sleep, I've been staying up all night

Pulsing through my body, through my muscles, through my bones

Systems overloaded about to explode

On the verge of something, I don't know what it is - uh huh

Like a snowball down a hill

Gaining speed at every turn

Like fire with a match

Getting ready to burn

I'm restless - oh baby I'm restless

Stuck inside a rut, every day the same old thing

Rolling out of bed when that alarm clock rings

Working hard all day - doing overtime

Not enough left over that I can call mine

Something's got to change, I don't know what it is- uh huh

Like a dog without a bone

Sniffing under every rock

Digging for a treasure

And I ain't gonna stop

I'm restless - oh baby I'm restless

BRIDGE#1:

I'm so damn tired of doing everything I've been told

Gonna break a few more rules before I get too old

Minutes feel like hours, Time's moving way too slow

I don't have a destination but I'm packed up to go

Like smoke without a stack -steam's gonna blow

Like soda in a can - shake it up and watch me go

Something's coming on, I don't know what it is - uh huh

I'm hanging by a thread - frayed, ready to snap

When I jump off of this ledge - they'll be no turning back

Yeah I'm restless - Oh baby I'm so restless

BRIDGE #2:

I'm so damn ready to break every rule I've been told

Better get out of my way 'cause I'm feeling bold

Like a snowball down a hill - Gaining speed at every turn

Like fire with a match - Getting ready to burn

I'm restless - oh baby I'm restless

WINTER IN AMERICA

From the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims

To the buffalo who once roamed the plains

Like the vultures circling beneath the dark clouds

Looking for the rain, looking for the rain.

Just like the cities staggering on the coastline

We're living in a nation that just can't take much more

Like the forests buried beneath the highway

Never had a chance to grow, never had a chance to grow

CHORUS:

And now it's winter, it's winter in America

And all of the heroes have been killed or been betrayed

And the people know, yes the people know

It's winter, it's winter in America

And there ain't nobody fighting

Because nobody knows what to say.

The Constitution was a noble piece of paper

With free society, it struggled but it died in vain

And now democracy is going ragtime on the corner

Hoping for some rain, hoping for some rain

And I've seen the robins perched in barren treetops

Watching last ditch racists marching across the floor

Just the like the peace signs that vanished in our dreams

They never had a chance to grow, never had a chance to grow.

CHORUS

People dying in the streets, people got no food to eat

No jobs, no home, we left them all alone

It's winter, it's winter in America

And there ain't nobody fighting

Because nobody knows what to say.

BE THAT AS IT MAY

Chaos and confusion

Survival of the tough

Some people seem to always to get too much

Some never get enough.

The world is filled with danger

Desperation and despair

The way the pie's divided up

The slices aren't fair.

REFRAIN:

And the ones who hold the power

The ones who hold the reins

Seem to have a hundred million ways designed

To profit from our pain.

CHORUS:

Be that as it may, be that as it may

I'm holding on to love despite it all

Be that as it may

What happened to the children

Who played along the streets?

Futures disappearing in a flash

Of half-truths and deceit

Where are all the leaders?

I've been searching for the ones

Who'll stand up with conviction and say yes to peace

And no to all the guns.

REFRAIN & CHORUS

BRIDGE:

Time is running out, we've got to find a way to share

The alternative's unthinkable, it's more than I can bear

I am just one person

Just one lonely voice

With voices raised together

We can make a choice.

Be that as it may, Be that as it may

……….Be that as it may