For those of you not in the know, I have a good friend named Jennifer. She's a musician and is currently the lead singer for a band some of you may have heard about called Sugarland. Many people do not know that she had a very strong solo career for many years before Sugarland happened, and her work at that time is some of the most amazing and life affirming stuff ever.
If you don't have these already, you need to download them all. Trust me, you'll thank me later. Feedback is appreciated, I'm interested to know what everyone thinks about this music and if it means as much to you as it does to me. NOTE: The YouSendIt links are down for the moment, try them now and then to see if the site is back up.
Jennifer Nettles Band
- Bad Girl's Lament
Ain't I the Jezebel
Ain't I the queen
Been from here to Hell and every stop in between!
Ain't I better now
Ain't I the best
I got this scarlet red letter that I flaunt on my chest
And be careful how you treat me cause what I think I tend to manifest
(chorus)
I lost my job as whipping boy
When I staged the "big coup"
For the last time I stopped feeling sorry for you, sorry for you.
Little sister says, "he made you what you are, your world and everything in it."
I think what he made was his own bed and he can strip right down
And he can roll around in it
And while we're talking tally sweetheart, I've been keeping score
He may win this battle but I've won this war
So go on and dub me "Miss Wicked, Miss Witch,, Miss Whore."
(chorus)
And you cry, "where did this come from?"
And you plead, "what is this about?"
But I've learned if I have nothing nice to say I should just shut my mouth.
It's every good girl's fantasy, every bad girl's lament
See he said, "get up and go girl" so I got up and went
Cause what he thought was for himself
And what he fought was never mine
And what he ought to know is better next time. - Listen
Come on over sir and let me buy you a drink
Cause everyone in the world is simply dying to know just what you think
Yes we value your opinion as a measure of our self-worth
Yeah you've been in this business awhile but baby
I've been destined since birth
What's your name don't you work for that radio
Then you write for that paper well then by all means you know, you know
What's happening now, what's hip, what's putridly insincere
Yes, you're right it's time for you to go, we don't sell any of that here
This ain't my thing, you know I really can't compete
Yeah you're as deep as the fucking ocean with your snobbish underground elite
Perhaps I bite the hand that feeds or cut off my nose to spite my face
But if you didn't come here to hear the truth
You shouldn't have come here in the first place
Then I turn to myself and ask if the turn will be mine
Maybe I bitch too much maybe too angry
Maybe I whine
Or maybe the picture of them I paint I paint too well
And though afraid they still adjust themselves as they put me back on the shelf - Story Of Your Bones
It's been two long months since I took a good look in the mirror
And in that time I find these lines on my face have gotten clearer.
It's time I reintroduce myself to the world
Show them what I'm all about
Even if it's just so they can chew me up and turn their heads and spit me out.
These bones in my face are from my mother
These lips I use are from my father
And the nose that rests above them is from another man
Somewhere who didn't bother.
I wonder what he would say
If he knew I got up here and rambled on this way
Would he then be proud and make it known
That he was part of me and I was one of his own.
It's been five long weeks since I've been able to kiss your face
And that always makes me question if this bullshit is worth it in the first place
'Cause I have to know the story of your bones
And I long to rove the map of your skin
And I'm tired of us both feeling loved yet alone
I want to feel where you've hurt, I want to taste where you've been
But what will they say
Will they still come and hear me when they know I love you this way
As I read you with my mouth and my finger tips
Like berries you color my hands, like wine you stain my lips.
It's been two long months since I took a good look in the mirror. - On the Shoulders Of Giants
An old bum pushes a shopping cart that he stole from Winn Dixie parking lot.
It's 1:00am and I'm on my way home.
I left there before it came to shouts, just in time to see him spit his apple out.
Left your door and made a beeline for my own.
I tell you it's alright but I'm thinking "fuck you anyway".
You blame you for breaking promises, but I blame me for ever believing a word you'd say.
I got what I need but it's not with you, and for what I want, I don't have the nerve.
So I guess again it comes down to I got what I deserved.
And oh, don't be afraid just look around.
Go on and say it, it's just a breath with a sound.
And oh don't be afraid to fall.
When we're on the shoulders of giants after all.
You smile as if I had nothing better to do, as if you were one of the chosen few,
As if there were nothing cooler than you.
Still I know you by touch and I know you by smell.
And I know you by ways too vulgar to tell.
See, I guess I know you a little too well so that smile is fitting for you.
And oh, don't be afraid just look around.
Go on and say it, it's just a breath with a sound.
And oh don't be afraid to fall.
When we're on the shoulders of giants after all.
I don't sleep with my politics, I choose not to hate.
'Cause I don't wear my heart where my knees separate.
It's crotch propaganda, bat for both teams, and it's me not choosing sides standing in between.
An old bum pushes a shopping cart each notices the other and jumps with a start.
It's 2:00am and I've found my way home.
Well it's giants in slumber but it's sleep that won't stay.
It's singing harps that got away.
And I fold my body to fit this furniture, hit the lights and call it a day. - Gravity
Caught in the shadows
My head is spinning
Everything's moving around and around
And the people were betting
And the loser that's winning
Is the one who has dibs on my face in the ground
And I know, "Hey, Suck it up girl"
And I know, "It's perspective you lack"
But my list is red starfish and blue lizards' tails
And I mark one thing off and five more come right back
Well I like the concept of tight vacuum packed
Let's shove fifty pounds of shit into a ten pound bag
So that keeps me chasing my tail all around
And most of the time it's just me being wagged
And I know I'm at the brow of my being
And I know it's hard to look down
And I'm probably as free as I ever will be
Still I choose to live like I'm gagging and bound
Well I wonder what it's like to walk around weightless
To jump for your heart and never come down
To know the potential of true human will
Without all of this gravity just dragging us down
And I know, one day we will wake up
And I know, and start to live as ourselves
And not let the cowards of history claim us
And stop pointing our fingers at everyone else
Jennifer Nettles, Live & Acoustic
- Story Of Your Bones (Live at Eddie's Attic, Decatur, GA)
- Gravity (Live at Eddie's Attic, Decatur, GA)
- She (Live at Eddie's Attic, Decatur, GA)
She laughs when she thinks that her whole life could fit in her car
and she could drive it wherever she wanted
But she knows that she will never get that far
this suffering's hers and she will flaunt it right in their face
In this place where they condemn your soul
with their smiles that are so curt
You know she always smiles at the mirror that way
it's there to remind her of the hurt
(Chorus)
And in her mind is a mixture of the sacred and profane
Sometimes she wonders if the two are not the same
And deep inside this Babylon that she's building like she just can't stop
She'll go on climbing even though she knows heaven's not at its top
And she will let her mind wonder for what seems like 40 years
and never find the promised land - even though it's in her hand
She takes everything she hears to her heart and gives it a room
And most times it sends her reeling
Her eart is pregnant with the graves of stillborn love
'Cause she imbues every word with meaning
Now she will search for her messiah in the comfort of her bed
and try to learn to take all the blame
You know she tried to look up his number when he left her way back before
but God didn't tell her his last name
