a waiting room

by fiona keenan

a waiting room Cover Art
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about

FIK001

credits

released 30 May 2008
the players:
ms fiona keenan sang and played acoustic/tenor/baritone guitars, all keyboard sounds, all percussion, melodica, and made the odd loop and did some colouring in with a wah pedal.
mr pete mc conville sang on 'solidarity' and played slide guitar, melodica, glockenspiel, banjo, and accordian.
ms caroline kemp sang and played mandolin
mr scott coutts played trombone
mr steve ironside played lead guitar on 'oh i mean'
mr scott ironside sang on 'solidarity' and played bozouki
all musicians arranged their own parts
all songs written by ms fiona keenan

this album was recorded, mixed, and produced by ms fiona keenan at home in tillydrone, aberdeen
added sparkle and depth [i.e. mastering] by mr stuart duncan at red barn studios just outside dundee - www.redbarn.co.uk

album artwork by fiona keenan and sarah j stanley (www.sarahjstanley.com)

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about

i am a music and sound maker, and started an msc in sound design at the university of edinburgh in september 2011. my online ... more releases live here on bandcamp , and my sound pieces are online on soundcloud. i have a blog on wordpress to document my electronics and sound design projects. less

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Track Name: what we do
we go much more than halfway
that is just what we do
we hit the ground running
we needed to
the jingle jangle of your keys at my lock
the drum in my chest trips
everything stops

my bitter and twisted
my working out
now what pours from me
is considered and proud
you are a comet burning far off
and i just want to wait here for your arrival
for your shower of sparks
Track Name: yesterday's dirt
yesterday's dirt and yesterday's clothes
they're coming out again for another round
cuz the memory's not yet cold
and the sun it clings on
to the day it shines upon
like me in your rays
like you in my gaze
and it's more than this body can hold
it's more than the force of this soul

most of us put up walls to eliminate surprise
well, i've been tearing down every obstacle that i can find
to the flood of maybes
to the thrill of uncharted seas
and it's more than this body can hold
it's more than the force of this soul

we keep each other guessing, we keep each other floored
we hurt as much as we feed, we don't know why or what for
defining you just breaks you down
you know, i love it when you throw your weight around
cuz it's more than this body can hold
it's more than the force of this soul
Track Name: solidarity
here's one for the migrant worker here from out of town
filling up the workshops, the cafes and the public housing
the streets ring with a new language
so many nationalist hackles raised
while the agencies and bosses strive to drive down the living wage
so many cheaper pairs of hands you see
we need solidarity
a commonwealth of toil that's you and me

corporate codes of conduct, suits and shirts and ties
my generation made the party, but we forgot to ORGANISE
brightly coloured uniforms, light and scent and speed
enlisted for the profit of the service economy
will that be with cream and sugar sir?
we need solidarity
a commonwealth of toil that's you and me

read up on precarity, you'll see it's in the boss' favour
multinationals hop continents in search of yet more waivers
beware of those who would use our fears of one another
you can hear them on polling day saying british jobs for british workers

plundered by global markets, pried open to the brand
it's so hard to make a living now we've lost the upper hand
economies will freefall, drive their workers from their homes
it's time to wake up to this system - recognise their struggle as your own
you know, big business never had your back
we need solidarity
a commonwealth of toil that's you and me
Track Name: the world won't
the world won't
see you straying
from the major
to the minor
be it parents
or homework
or regret
turning over

yes, place and time are easily stretched
beyond what you can seize
so you spend your life making things look
as easy as can be

big secrets
big hoping
holding on now
thinking sober
yes, straight down the middle line
walking a wire
biding your time

cuz hard and fast rarely applies
to you from day to day
you start out and then you get stuck
all tooled up, afraid
Track Name: bullet mics
i learn to meet your sidelong glance
learn not to brim but just to fill
to keep contained my workings out
my secret home and scribbled thrills
this is where i pin my feelings on
this song

on a magical trajectory
a tardis swinging from your keys
with mixers pulsing bright lights
fed from amps and bullet mics
do i need a poster campaign?
should i aim for fame?

i believe that we are both a part
of something bigger to be explained
and i will surely finish what i start
just as you do with what bears your name
these respective loves we make
call us away
Track Name: your map
the room holds its breath with you
there is nowhere left to hide
the past is beating your door down
your signature is required
what's that you hold out for?
is it a ticket out of here?
or relief moment by moment just as you feared?

i thought singing would save me
that i would always know just how to act
but life's twisting and turning it seems
will always defy your map
what's that you hold out for?
is it a ticket out of here?
or relief moment by moment just as you feared?

you want it digestible
boiled in sugar and canned
but if not for those dark coloured contours
would you see the lie of your land?
Track Name: bloodlines/leylines
the light's direction
a kalidescope lens
acquaints you with the logic of
breaking just to mend
the moon rising inside you
it bubbles and swirls
sparks strike the kindling
flames flicker and curl
and what you've got cooking it's hard to say
the calendar splinters possibilities stray
a bright shiny notion
presently flowing
holding that though still
that comfort of knowing

so harness the power
of an even stare
a silence with purpose
the strength hidden there
bloodlines and leylines
trace through the days
you spent hunting for seashells
in some sandy place
and what you've got cooking it's hard to say
the calendar splinters possibilities stray
a bright shiny notion
presently flowing
holding that though still
that comfort of knowing
Track Name: oh i mean
when your failsafe will not engage
when you sit shocked and stalled in something's wake
when you cannot keep up as your body breaks down
your mind reeling around and around
when it's not so much that you wrote it
but you were feeling that overloaded

oh i mean what does it mean to ya to set your heart right?
to let go your fetters and cast yourself off
just to bring something to light

when everything is sadly present not future tense
and everything once worth doing makes little sense
will you stay patient and steady, think clear through it all
knowing piece by piece it will resolve
and if it's not so much that you chose it
it may answer the need of the moment

oh i mean what does it mean to ya to set your heart right?
to let go your fetters and cast yourself off
just to bring something to light

a morning flight a few days later
a fine tooth comb through all the hurt we've paid for
now i realise you are much more than i've known
and i must get over and shuffle along
cuz until i have seen you try to make good
i still do not know what you're made of

oh i mean what does it mean to ya to set your heart right?
to let go your fetters and cast yourself off
just to bring something to light
Track Name: follow you home
i want to follow you home
finally see what makes you tick
look inside that constant clock
and watch each thought complete its beat
y'know, thinking is what i do best
i don't do much else so well
aside from stumbling every time
i'm caught in someone else's spell
this world would drive a girl insane
no solace from the way things are
when loving family and friends
or taking the time to put back
i want to follow you home
impossible is what you do
i want some of that for myself
i want to follow you home
Track Name: been drinking
yes i have been drinking
as the night marched on
you reached out in conversation
like an upturned palm
in the dimmer-switch twilight
my hope is high-heeled
moving close to the unspoken
what your big talk conceals

and i keep my mind shut tight
wolves like you at the door
no unwanted incursions
no more questioning experts
but i will open up to you
it that's what's required
to close the inches between me
and my latest desire

and what you choose to spin out i might take to be true
but for this heavy thing i try to prove
one more equation never to be resolved
me plus you plus sweet alcohol

darkness shuffles in late
and you leave me thinking
you know time goes to my head
when i have been drinking
Track Name: circumstance
after all you surely know
defeat may prove to be the glue that holds
human thinking harnessed to the market's force
so many great ideas with no distributors
circumstance sneaks up on you even as your hopes are gathering speed
once you set your heart on it your resolve begins to bleed

no performance indicators, none yet known
a vacuum wraps itself around your blood and bone
while pop and pomp and copyright trumpet such and such
oh lordy we have already given up so much
circumstance sneaks up on you even as your hopes are gathering speed
once you set your heart on it your resolve begins to bleed

track followed by album launch then interviews in print
a careful choreography that i can never win
when every up and coming calibrates their poise
how do i rise out of this life
build something good with my voice?
circumstance sneaks up on you even as your hopes are gathering speed
once you set your heart on it your resolve begins to bleed
Track Name: a waiting room
time it is elastic
it stretches and it strains
some moments are contracted
and others fade away
i picture myself sometimes
pacing a waiting room
a part of me holding fast
waiting for your news
but years of breaking slowly has taught me
that you may never call at all
but still i persist in taking you on
cuz i could never let you go

like i know my fragile fingers
are no match for metal strings
and each tiny forced movement
it wears and tears and strains
but years of breaking slowly has taught me
that these hands can bring me gifts
and if still i persist in playing this thing
it's all for the love of it

so tell me what i need now
is it a new way to see?
or all of your motives
laid out before me?
years of breaking slowly has taught me
that hope is just what i'm built to do
and if still i persist in taking you on
it's all for the love of you
Track Name: old songs
where to now with all you're needing
the daily dust is receding
the street lights commence their glow
the right notes do not show
all this writing and surviving
is just a recipe for crying
remember that you need to use this
cuz labour is entitled to all that it produces
and when you have the time to breathe and bend old songs peek out like old friends

the lost art of the long view
the cold comfort that gets me through
all the atrophied muscles i have seen
sacrificed to the might of convenient machines
so put this thing to work
and ask for what you're after
like Steel and Morris vs the Golden Arches
the impossible at first may bring us all that one step forwards
and when you have the time to breathe and bend old songs peek out like old friends

the street light flickers and i hear industry laughing
cuz shopping for the planet is not what nature's asking
and the great carbon mind trick is the disaster of the hour
at least since they outlawed female blood power
and it's a long way to the end
for me and my old friends
the truth that i have come to is you must always scratch the surface
the work and the solitude always will be worth it
and when you have the time to breathe and bend old songs peek out like old friends.