TIME SPENT SWIMMING

 

Produced by Selina Martin, assisted by Alex Gamble

Mixed by Alex Gamble, assisted by Selina Martin

Mastered by Justin Gray

All songs by Selina Martin

 

Tangier

Doug Friesen (electric bass, double bass, noise improv), Chendy León (percussion), Meredith Bates (violin, noise improv), Alex Gamble (sample randomizer), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, programmed drums, samples)

 

Got a hole in my heart. And I can’t fill it up.  Big as that long breakwater; wide as the Straight of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar.  Gib-ib-braltar.

I’m not done getting lost.  I’m a wayward astronaut; A map-less pioneer, riding a wind that brought me here.

Here to Tangier.
 

All day long a rooster crows. The collared dove sings along. And I’ll sit by, sit by your side a mile above, above the tide.

And I’ll sit by, sit by your side. We’ll watch the boats go by.

 

You’re made of sand and wind. I cannot touch your skin.  The way a lover oughta. The way I really wanna.

I wanna.  I wa-wanna.

I’ll tell you all my thoughts while you peel the apricots.  And when you’re standing near …ooooh .

I like being here.  Here in Tangier.

 

I got a hole in my heart because I must depart with the wind across the water in a boat without a rudder.

A rudder. A ru-rudder.

Let me disappear. I could do it here.  In Tangier.


 

Two Storeys / The Ground

Doug Friesen (bass), Chendy León (percussion), Alex Gamble (MIDI bass), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, programmed drums, samples)

 

Got the ground under my feet.  Got the sky over my head. Got a floor under my feet.  Got a roof over my head.

Got a ceiling under the floor.  Got a ceiling under the roof. Got a room under the ceiling.  Got a room under the ceiling.

Got a floor under the room.  Got a floor under the room. Got the ground under my feet.  Got the ground under my feet.

 

You come into the room and you lean in close to me and the moon is big and low, hanging just above the trees.

I can see it out the window.  I can see us in the window. I can feel it in the room.  You say you can feel it too.

And it’s bigger than the moon, like the gravity of stars.

But I don’t know what you want.  And you’re fucking with my heart.

 

In the room under the ceiling, on the floor beneath the floor, you were there but now you’re leaving.  I swear I heard the door.

And I fall into the carpet, and I sink through wooden boards. And it’s dark here without moonlight, in the space between the storeys.

And you speed along the highway, but you never drive that far.

Cuz you don’t know what you want, and you’re fucking with my heart.

 

Got the ground under my feet.  Got the sky over my head. Got a floor under my feet.  Got a roof over my head.

Got a ceiling under the floor.  Got a ceiling under the roof.  Got a room under the ceiling.  Got a room under the ceiling.

Got a floor under the room.  Got a floor under the room.  Got the ground under my feet.  Got the ground under my feet.

 

If You Were a River

Doug Friesen (bass), Chendy León (percussion), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, synth, samples, vibraphone, musical saw)

 

If you were a river and I were the wind, if you were a river would you ever bend?

Would you ever bend.

 

Lighter than a feather, invisible as air. Everything around you is how you know I’m there.

Is how you know I’m there

 

Will you let me bring you things like I did before?

I could loosen ripened figs and drop them at your door, or...

 

Carve me out a corner. Make a little bed. Carve me out a corner. Let me rest my head.

Let me rest my head.

 

And then I could store my things in those meanders where your secrets hide.

I’ll rummage through from time to time looking for what is not mine,

some stuff that I can use for future alibis.

 

Put your arms around me. I’m tired of moving around. Put your arms around me and try to hold me down.

Try to hold me down.

 

 

Something Wide Awake

Doug Friesen (synth), Barry Mirochnick (drums), Alex Gamble (reverb tail), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, synth, vibraphone, programmed drums, samples, musical saw)

 

Hey, there’s something in the wind.  Oooh there’s something in the wind.

Cold light streams in, and angles your chin. Did the seasons change again?

I know things you don’t know.

 

There’s something that I feel. There’s something that I feel.

And though I can’t tell if it’s fate or self-will,  I imagine it’s real.

I know things you don’t know.

 

Hey, there’s something on my mind. Yeah, I got something on my mind.

Beside the feeling of holding your hand, I’ve been treating you unkind.

I know things you don’t know. I know things you don’t know. 

I know …

 

I’m wide awake, you’re sleeping late on a soft bed that’s someone else’s.

I lie awake waiting for the rain.  Tell me how long till it comes down again.

 

Now there’s a slow ache cuz I’m not sleeping. And all the same mistakes, well they’re like a big lake.

But time spent swimming, it aligns with nothing. I just dive right in it.

Let go of things you don’t know.

 

I’m wide awake, you’re sleeping late on a soft bed that’s someone else’s.

I lie awake waiting for the rain. Tell me how long till it comes down. 

Tell me how long till it comes down.   Tell me how long till it comes down.

 

Quarantine

Doug Friesen (bass, synth), Chendy León (percussion, hand claps), Michael Phillip Wojewoda (boom-whacker), Sarah McElcheran (trumpet), Alex Gamble (sample randomizer), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, programmed drums, samples)

 

Tell me are you feeling slow?  Spending too much time alone?

Winter turns to springtime. Summertime turns to fall.

Everything’s changed. Nothings changed at all.

 

Te-te-te tell me are you feeling guilty? Ba-baby are you feeling wrong?

Is your head a wasteland?  Is every little thing your fault?

You think you’re missing out but there’s nothing going on.

Quarantine 

 

Wish you were here.  Wish I was there.  I wish you were here or I wish I was there.  

Wish you were here.  Wish I was there.  Wish you were here.  Wish I was ..

 

Across an ocean floor I see your open door.

The world is very small. You’re so near and too far. 

 

You are just a quarter note and I’m a tiny grain of sand,

rolling on the breezes, resting in an open hand.

Time is what we are, cuz time is all we have.

Quarantine. Quarantine. Quarantine.

 

Wish you were here. Wish I was there. Wish you were here. Wish I was there.

Wish you were here. Wish I was.     

 

So Lo

Frogs (voice), Birds (voice), Selina (voice)

 

I feel so low, so low. I feel so low, so low. I feel so low, so low I’m gone, I’m gone, I’m...

Trouble hit me hard. Trouble hit me hard. Trouble hit me hard, so hard I’m gone, I’m...     I’m gone, I’m...    (gone I’m).

They say I done you wrong. They say I done you wrong. They say I done you wrong I’m gone, I’m gone, I’m...

 

Ba doo doo ba doo doo doo boo doo doo doo.  Ba doo doo ba booba doo doo doo doo.

Ba boo doo ba booba da doo doo ooo.   Ba ba doo ba booba da doo ah oooh.

 

It was early in the morning,    (so lo)      I didn’t see it coming.  (so lo)

That downtown train  (so lo)    took my baby away.

 

I feel so low, so low.    (so lo)    I feel so low, so low.    (so lo)  I feel so low, so low I’m gone, I’m gone, I’m...

 

 

Since You’re Gone

Doug Friesen (double bass, electric bass), Evan Cartwright (drums), Julia Hambleton (bass clarinet), Alex Gamble (reverb tail), Tom Meienburg (basket), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, samples, vibraphone)

 

I have waited for you in this home that’s my heart. There are flowers in the rooms all the days we’re apart.

 

“I’m away now”, you said, as you walked out the door. “Be good to those you love. They keep hold of who you are.”

 

Did the water welcome you? Was it colder on your skin?  Were they sweeter, the bird songs? ... things you’ll never hear again.

 

Since you’re gone I need to reach you, like the sea needs the sky.

As the water rose to greet you, were you sad for the sadness to come?

... that’s come since you’re gone.

 

Still I wait here for you, while the birds sing their songs. I put flowers in the rooms in case you come back home.

Ooooooooo.

 

Leopard-Skin Vespa

Doug Friesesn (bass), Evan Cartwright (drums, coconut), Alex Gamble (drum machine), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, organ, programmed drums, samples)

 

I got golden shoes and real crushed diamonds on my eyes. My lips are rouge and I hold my head up high.

And the streets of my home are dipped in wine and cologne. And it’s a lot of work, my insatiable thirst.

And I’m just like you; a designer dog in a designer purse.

 

But you look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. 

You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa.

 

The sky is blue from morning till the day is done. By the afternoon I’m still resistant to the sun.

Now I’ve perfected my stride to an emotionless glide. And I got a lot of stuff, but it’s never enough.

And I’m just like you; my skin is tanned and my body’s buff.

 

But you look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. 

You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa.

 

Nothing exists unless I see it. That looks like a shell, not a peanut. And I got to be closest to the sun, here in my cult of one.

 

I got golden shoes and real crushed diamonds on my eyes. I look at you and see straight through to my horizon.

And the streets of my home are dipped in wine and cologne. And it’s a lot of work, my insatiable thirst.

And I’m just like you; designer dog in a designer purse.

 

But you look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. 

You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa. You look so cool on your leopard-skin vespa.

    … so cool on your leopard-skin vespa! 

 

Eurydice

Doug Friesen (bass), Chendy León (percussion), Maya Postepski (drums), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, synths, samples)

 

Why do you think it’s true? I’m still holding on to you.   Holding on to you.

Time has opened up a door. I’m just wondering where you are. 

Fate has blotted out the sun to make me pay for what I’ve done.  

But I don’t know what I’ve done.

Every second is an hour. I’m just wondering where you are. Wondering where you are.

 

Qu’est-ce que tu as mis dans mon corps?  Slow-acting poison that crumples me to the floor.

Tu as quelque chose à dire à mon cœur?  Shoulda gave a warning it would go to far.

 

And all the joy I never spoke came out my chest to coat the world, I laid it all over for everyone to soft the road you walked upon.

 

Time is fucking with my head while I’m lying here in bed.  Just lying here in bed.

I don’t know why it’s true; I need to be with you.

But there’s nothing I can do.

 

Hun-oo

Selina Martin (voice)

 

Smile

Doug Friesen (double bass), Evan Cartwright (drums), Annelise Noronha (accordion), Julia Hambleton (bass clarinet), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, e-marimba)

 

Smile and the world smiles with you. Cry and you cry alone.

If you’re wise you will hide the tears in your eyes, and you won’t be on your own.

 

If Happiness, like a butterfly, flutters by your door, never catch him to bring inside.

For he won’t survive. Believe me, I tried.

 

Just be glad and new dreams will find you.  Be sad and be left alone.

Keep your friends by your side. Don’t show them you’re crying.

Disguise it till time lets you know that a free butterfly needs a clear blue sky.

And smile as you watch him go.

 

Your Face Goes Long

Doug Friesen (bass), Evan Cartwright (drums), Selina Martin (guitar, voice, synth, programmed drums, samples)

 

You say you love me but you never give me your heart.  You leave me wandering, wondering when we’re apart.

And now the way I feel is tipped over. Like a Ferris wheel I keep spinning ‘round.

 

Exchanges are made every time that you look in my eyes. I take your attention then you get to play with my pride.

You got secret rules in your forehead, and they’re in the air, but I’m, but I’m on the ground.

 

Your face goes long when I call you home, but your’e always gone and it swings me down.

 

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo da. Bada dooda dada doo da. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo da. Bada dooda dada doo da

 

Viens avec moi je peux te montrer mes besoins. N’aies pas peur ils ne sont pas plus gros que les tiens.

Mettre un petit trou dans mon océan. Ce n'est presque rien, mais ce sera profond.

 

Je suis ici, tu es là. Je suis ici, tu es là.  Je suis ici, tu es là-ah.  Oh la la.

Your face goes long when I call you home, but your’e always gone and it swings me down.

 

There was a man, was a man in the sea yesterday. Still as a stone looking back in some uncertain way.

Is he part of you, like the ocean? Is he made of will?  Am I made of sound?

 

You say you know me but you don’t remember my name. Call me her, call me Stacey, I’ll still feel the same.

Because you make me feel like the only place to get a meal in this shitty town.

 

Your face goes long when I call you home, but your’e always gone and it swings me down.

Your face goes long when I call you home, but your’e always gone and it swings me down.

 

Un deux trois quatre

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo da. Bada dooda dada doo da

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo da. Bada dooda dada doo da

 

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.