Demographix Vol. 2: Songs Without Hooks (2004)

(click on the song to listen)
1. light me up
2. i wanna be the one
3. the white flag
4. so long, angeline
5. upper east side, 10 a.m.6. damsel
7. lancelot8. cleopatra
9. joking10. go easy on me, love

Demographix Vol. 2: Songs Without Hooks (2004)
Recorded in New York City, 2003/4
All songs written and produced by Michael Novick
MKN: vocals, acoustic guitars, programming

light me up

you can fade away into a brighter day/and when you wake light me up/close your eyes/i'll sing you lullabies to touch your heart/and that's a pretty good start/i know you're tired/i know you're scared/i'll hold your hand/i'll understand/i'll be your man/so hold on/we're almost home/just say my name/we'll never be the same

i wanna be the one

i'm feelin' somethin' new/i know it can't be true/'cause nothin' changes 'round here/i look into your eyes/you look away/i've never seen so much fear/i wanna be the one, love/i see your heart now/don't try to hide it/just let me inside/when i was younger i dreamed of you/now i'll swallow all this pride/'cause i wanna be the one, love...

the white flag

you kissed me when i fell/stop this melancholy carousel/release me from your spell/we've lived too long in dreams/fiction's stranger than it seems/and we're busting at the seams/i'd prefer to be a shadow as lovely as you are/at the brink of vanishing/bound to a trembling star/take these things i've made/let the music start to fade/there's no need to feel betrayed/the white flag is a whisper draped in satin air/from the depths of our surrender/these hearts beyond repair/don't give in to despair/a dream of a dream of september/a picnic and charades in an apple orchard/thoughts strange and scattered like a virus army/god's fingerprints on these days/i am the fading ember/flames reduced to flickers, shifts, and shivers

so long, angeline

i took everything i could get my hands on / just to make you hate me / i didn’t know how much that hurt you and made you harder / i’m not sorry but i’m sad / you really loved that show downtown when i sang for the girl at the bar / we were young, but not stupid / and i walked though the city like i knew my way / i didn’t know my way / so longi collected the rain in a jar by the door / when you said that was dumb, i agreed / but i cared about something / and it’s not like i wasn’t aware of the game / i just wasn’t playing for long / so long / i was singing alone in my room / serenading the man in the moon, i was praying / i didn’t know you were listening / from beneath my window / so long, angeline…

upper east side, 10 a.m.

so this is what it's like to feel you in the air first thing in the morning/i promise not to wake you 'til your time has come/and if it never does/dream away, senorita/slow down, shooting star/lest you forget who you are/tell me why you want to sleep on a day like this/and it all falls down/and i'm left with the pieces of you/on a day like this...

damsel

got a call from california from a new york number/but i didn't dare to answer/i was busy with the rain/there's safety in a damsel/there's sugar in my tea/there's traffic in a pencil and flowers corner me/you take too much you fall into yourself/before too long the song will end and you'll be left to your bitter end/took a walk through central park/with a circus in my head/i've learned to play a decent fool/and i look too far ahead/i saw a black girl climb a tree/on a hill above the dust bowl/she tumbled in the world/what a lucky girl/you didn't know me when i lied to save my soul/i remember me when everything was still a dream i owned/i know we never change/i know we never die/we only rearrange in pieces in the sky/there's safety in a damsel...

lancelot

romeo climbed into her room with a homemade guitar/and owing to his cause he let her go on dreaming and challenged the moon to a duel/what can you say to the man who thinks he's lancelot?/romeo made her a promise that no man could keep/"I need to be needed" with a straight face and a bow/the court jester who never plays the clown/what would you say to the bloodied fool?/the knight in tarnished armor?/lancelot left her a rose and galloped away

cleopatra

you say it’s unjust / that there's not much about me you trust / ’cause i won't give in to the lust / take that, cleopatra / i'm a loner on a lonesome road / content to let my circle erode / but in the face of the story you told i was healed, cleopatra / don't mistake me for another fool you can push around / i'm a child of the child of the king and you're no match for me, cleo / so you think you know me / that i show myself to you above all / you are wrong to assume this is real / i am just a mirage / say nothing to your lover / say nothing to your friends / i'm the secret you think you hold but your grasp is fleeting / don't mistake me for a fool you can bend to your will / i'm a child of fortune and you're no match for me, cleo / say nothing to your lover / say nothing to your friends / i'm the secret you think you can hold...

joking

i knew you were trouble when you walked down the aisle/i had to force a smile/and your devil’s plan was not news to me/but i was safe at sea/i was only joking…/you’re not unkind but you’ve been so cruel/and i can’t abide the fate of fools/i was only joking…/it’s not hard to see you’re not who we are/but that doesn’t mean we can’t meet somewhere in the middle/i was only joking…

go easy on me, love

i'm watching the light fall into this life/i feel for you all but everything has its price/i would set you free but you have to let me/go easy on me, love i've no home to speak of/here is my heart do with it what you will/since we've been apart i have been lucky still/take what you can and i'll be a better man/go easy on me, love i've no will to speak of/i've seen angels fall into darkness only to rise in blinding flashes of light/i remember the sun i remember the sky/i remember your face and how easy it was to lie/go easy on me, dear don't make us disappear/give me your love i've no one to speak of