UNCLOUDED


NORWEGIAN BOATSONG

Music by Silje Nergaard

Lyrics by Mike McGurk

 

Lina takes her boat and rows

to places only Lina knows

and will not rest upon the oars

before she reaches safer shores

 

the mist that rolls in from the sea

beckons her –says come to me

I will hide you …make you whole

when mindless days disturb your soul

 

hidden skerries razor rocks

are better than the stumbling blocks

living places in your way

and you must side-step every day

 

Lina, Lina why the tears

no need to weep for she who steers

her boat to secret silver bays

where hearts can heal and mend their ways

 

the weeping will be done by those

who pace the shore and cannot know

for all the beacons that they burn

whether Lina will return

ALL I HAD

Music by Silje Nergaard, Hallgrim Brattberg & Håvar Bendiksen & 

Lyrics by Mike McGurk

 

I filled my days with all that tasted sweet

seeing only what I dared to meet                                                      

said stones were there to step on not to turn

too full of dreaming to learn

 

I worked my will and fingers to the bone

forging shapes that I could call my own

and thought that I had found some magic touch…

I’d turn nothing into much

...

you were all I had

you let me lie in the corner of your eye

safe and sound from danger

in everything I tried

when darkness filled my

days you willed me back on my way

and saw me home

 

in days now filled with all things bitter sweet

and spent in wondering where to place my feet

the stones I used before still play their part

weighing heavy on my heart

...

you are all I have

you let me lie in the corner of your eye

safe and sound from danger

in everything I try

when darkness fills my

days you will me back on my way

and see me home

 


ORDINARY SADNESS

Music by Silje Nergaard

Lyrics by Mike McGurk

 

so she opens windows wide

tries to catch the light

her house just grows a little darker

no place to hide anywhere in sight

 

tries rearranging household things

hopes this will bring some change

and uncover traces of her life

before the emptiness arrives

she moves things around with a sigh

like pawns in a game that can save her from questioning why

then leaves the room and lets another day go by

...

it’s just an ordinary sadness

that grips her from within

there’s no pure and simple reason

for the darkness rolling in

it’s just an ordinary sadness

preying on her mind

reminding her of something left behind

it’s just an ordinary life

...

she spends her days sifting through

old photos she’s found

and places them like giant milestones

along the road to where she feels her life is bound

 

she gathers in the joys she owns

and she spreads them all around

hopes they will trigger laughter

breathing in ….breathing out some other life

like the sighing of wind in the trees just before rain

and flooding her eye

those foolish tears she weeps for all the years gone by

...

it’s just an ordinary sadness                                       

that grips her from within

there’s no pure and simple reason

for the darkness rolling in

it’s just an ordinary sadness

preying on her mind

reminding her of something left behind

it’s just an ordinary life

...

where did it all get up and leave her

to a world she had not planned

drifting out of reach and far from land

...

it’s just an ordinary sadness

that grips her from within

there’s no pure and simple reason

for the darkness rolling in

it’s just an ordinary sadness

preying on her mind

reminding her of something left behind

it’s just an ordinary life

GODS MISTAKE

Music by Silje Nergaard

Lyrics by Mike McGurk

 

I’´m gonna be black

I’´m gonna be white

I’´m gonna try every shade

that’s ever been made

till I finally get it right

I’´m gonna be soft

I´’m gonna be hard

and what’s better yet

gonna place every bet

on somebody else’s cards

 

add it on…. take it off. change your shape

while you wait

you´’ve gotta learn by God’s mistakes

 

gonna worship my hair

gonna pamper my skin

I´’m gonna try to keep

my beauty skin-deep

and let it shine out from within

I´’m gonna be rash

I´’m gonna be wise

never bearing a grudge

if living should smudgethe makeup I´’ve put on

my eyes

 

add it on…. take it off. change your shape

while you wait

you’´ve gotta learn by God’s mistakes

 

´I’m gonna walk tall

but be ready to duck

gonna get me a life

at one with the knife

and close to my next nip-and-tuck

I´’m gonna be full

of myself and mine

gonna shop till I drop

and never say stop

till I´’ve finished God’s design


DET VAR FOR SENT

Music by Silje Nergaard

Lyrics by Sigrid Merete Hanssen

 

Du sa så god den var

den første morgenen

Så lys og fin den drømmen var

som ble virkelig den lange fine våren.

 

Jeg sa hvor ble den av

den gode tiden

En storm, men uten opprørt hav

og en kjærlighet som var forandret siden

 

Og det var for sent

det var forbi

Alt vi skulle gjøre, ord vi burde si

Når det var for sent, det var forbi

Alt vi kunne vinne, kjærlighet som var å finne

i et annet liv, våre liv

Alle dager som forsvant

 

Du sa her er vi nå

Her stanset tiden

Vi har et valg å vinne på

velge drømmen og for alltid leve i den

 

Før det er for sent, det er forbi

Alt vi skulle gjøre, ord vi burde si

Før det er for sent, det er forbi

Alt har vi å vinne, kjærlighet som vi kan finne

i et annet liv, eller våre liv

gode ting vi fant

Alle dager som forsvant

 

WHEN THE MORNING COMES

Music by Silje Nergaard

Lyrics by Mike McGurk

 

I’´ll tell her when the morning comes

but leave her all the wonder

tell her of those city lights

whose spell she’s under

my words will all sound hollow

and too old for her heart to follow

 

I´’ll tell her of a girl I knew

no names or ages

then as mothers often do

I´’ll start to turn back pages

and let her know I see her

but never try to be her…

 

fight back tears

swallow fears and

be happy that she

is so thrilled by all she sees

and remembering how it feels

 

I´’ll tell her when the morning comes

but now she’s sleeping

I´’ll just hold her close and guard

the secrets she needs keeping

I follow her in sorrow

into a world I can´’t borrow

...


WHEN OUR TUNE IS PLAYED

Music by Silje Nergaard

Lyrics by Mike McGurk

 

waking from a dream

can be so hard to bear

discovering the scheme

of things…a sad affair

 

moving in a trance

we sway from side to side

and when our tune is played..we dance

 

I can take the cold

awakenings may bring

those dreams I cannot hold

will never mean a thing

 

I have no use you see

for flights of fantasy

as long as you are here with me

HE MUST HAVE BEEN TELLING A LIE

Music by Silje Nergaard

Lyrics by Mike McGurk

 

I see it written in his eyes

the fear that I will cut him down in size

I’ll never try to make him crawl

he’ll know if he’s deserves to walk on tall

 

revenge is sweet…. or so we’re told

but even sweeter when it’s served up cold

he looks at me and says…because

I look at him and miss the man he was

 

everyone but me has seen them painting the town

turning every head and my world upside down

whispering all his tender words wrapped up in a sigh

when he said them to me

he must have been telling a lie

 

my golden rule has been in life

when someone’s hurting you don’t twist the knife

he looks at me and says …I wish

I look at him and see a sea full of fish 

 

everyone but me has seen them painting the town

turning every head and my world upside down

whispering all his tender words wrapped up in a sigh

when he said them to me

he must have been telling a lie

 

she fills my hour steals my days…

leaving me… so empty handed

she never planned to be a one-life stand

but she was his and he was hers

two lovers walking hand in hand


I WILL WRITE YOU EVERY DAY

Music by Silje Nergaard

Lyrics by Mike McGurk

 

I will write you every day

write the words I cannot say

and hope that they will find their way

to you and bring you near

close enough for words to do everything I need them to

 

I will spend each waking hour

counting seconds pacing floors

rehearsing what I ought to write

and finding ways to say

that life’s so good…

now that you’re still mine and I am yours

 

oh but what if words should fail

hearts and memories pale

how would we reach each other

and say for evermore

if all that would be left of us

were letters just gathering dust

and so far from sight

every word I ever write


© Silje Nergaard 2024

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