Joanne Elizabeth ~ So Pretty ~ demo CD 1. So Pretty 2. Haunting 3. A Better Place 4. Blue Prison 5. My Friend The Musicians: Joanne Elizabeth- vocals, electric piano Matt Engel- acoustic, electric, and bass guitars Dylan Dearinger- drums Recorded at Cydonia Sound in Tacoma, WA (USA) Recorded, produced, and mixed by Shad Woodman Mastered by Scott Holden All songs written by Joanne Elizabeth except Haunting: music- Matt Engel, lyrics- Joanne Elizabeth Copyright © 2001 Joanne Elizabeth. All Rights Reserved. In the Studio: Cydonia Sound This is where we all, as musicians, were forced to face our demons. I think all three of us came out of the experience with our egos and ambitions intact, though. It was as frustrating for me as it was enlightening. Shad’s honesty and expertise helped us see our shortcomings, which enabled us to conquer them in the future. We learned how to listen to recorded music in new ways. This valuable experience contributed to our ability to use The Explorer Studio for our other recording projects. So Pretty He tells me that those German girls, they are so pretty and that he really needs to get away He says he’ll call her by her Spanish name always They’ll fall in love like me and my mission I know a girl that I don’t know, she is so pretty I think she really needs to get away She might find what rests underneath her long blond hair then she’d fall in love with it and her mission He tells me I should act more like a lady But who is he to tell me anyway I think I’ll go now, but I’ll love you always Just fall in love like me and my mission He tells me, I said, he tells me that you are so pretty and I say that you are so pretty Don’t you know that you are so pretty He tells me ‘bout those German girls He tells me ‘bout them German girls They are so pretty You are so pretty Behind the song: I wrote this song during my Spanish class in the 10th grade. This guy in my class was telling me that this girl (who was from Germany) was so pretty. He told her that he would always call her by her Spanish name. As for my mission, that is basically my music career. This other girl in our class is the blond in the second verse. I didn't know her that well, but she was one of those girls that sort of disappear after high school. I wanted more for her than that. When I say, "you are so pretty," I'm saying it to you, but in a way I'm also saying it myself. No one else dared to say it. Haunting I am words enough, for this song but I can say, I am not well yet I am well enough I cannot tell you why I cry anymore I cannot tell you why I am on fire, I am here enough, with this song that I can feel, you are not well yet you are well enough – I see you still I cannot tell if this is enough to set you on fire But I still miss you although I try not to think about you all the time and I still feel you haunting me so tell me I’ll be on fire forever and ever more Behind the song: We were in Dylan’s basement, when he and Matt started to play this song they were working on. I was so deeply moved by the music that I was wordless. It was enough just to feel the music. But then the words came to me anyway. Rob, the male singer in our group at the time, had already written lyrics to it. The first 2 lines of the 3rd verse are from his lyrics. I used his title, "Haunting," to finish off the verse. Instead of just giving him credit here for quoting his lyrics, he was listed as a co-writer in the credits of the limited edition printing of this CD. Since that isn't technically correct, his name doesn't appear in future printings. A Better Place She sees her face in the mirror and her eyes look empty and dry She sees her life in shattered fragments and doesn’t bother asking why She tries to face the festering pain as it burns into her soul She tries to run away as her feelings swallow her whole She cries and she cries in the night and no one feels her tears She cries and she cries in the night even after all these years She’s been there and I’ve only seen pictures and I don’t understand She’s been there and I’ve only seen pictures; I don’t pretend to understand The next day I felt crushed by her rose smell Above all, she will fall weak frantic, she tries to leave Her gorgeous white skin shines around her black dress as she flies down the side of a church building to a better place She cried and she cried in the night, somehow I feel her tears She cried and she cried in the night, slowly drowning in those years She’s been there and I’ve only seen pictures and I don’t understand She was there, now she’s gone to a better place And I don’t understand why she took her away but they say she’s in a better place Behind the song: I don’t know her name, but I feel her presence in the world. She’s the woman who sees death as her only way out. It is a humbling song, because I cannot judge her. I didn’t experience what she did, so I can’t say I know why jumping off the roof of her church building was her only way out. The suicide is also a metaphor for the spiritual/mental smothering that religion (or any other confinement of the mind) can sometimes cause. Blue Prison My soul has left me here alone among my familiar faces These hellish places have become my blue, blue prison Where have all my dandelions gone Promise you’ll laugh when I say all the things you pray I don’t believe Promise you’ll stay happy longer than I did My god has left me here to write the song of dreams to come These hellish places have always been his destination Well maybe this time I’ll get to be my savior You see, I just wanted to be alive again, again yes I just wanted to be my savior I think I should try this once again, once again My heart won’t give me peace There is no rest for the wounded in my blue, blue prison What a noble heart to give me peace There is rest for this wounded heart in the noble destination I have in mind for us I’d be all that I could be Promise you’ll laugh when I say Maybe I don’t want out of this genesis, my genesis genesis, leave me in this, genesis genesis in my my my my genesis genesis, in my blue, blue prison Where have all my dandelions, dandelions gone Behind the song: My dandelions are friends I saw as flowers while others saw them as weeds. It was hard to watch them wither as I grew and blossomed. The school tour bus dropped me off in the general area of the Steinway piano store. I was alone and lost on the streets of New York. I walked around, asking various people for directions, for over an hour. My determination grew as time passed. “How bad do you want to play piano?” I asked myself. It had been days since I had played (a.k.a. torture). When I finally found the store, Blue Prison was born- on about 50 different pianos. My Friend I know you never loved me the way I loved you But even still wasn’t it grand Adventures, but never hand in hand I know you’ve had your share of troubles as I’ve had mine And I’m sorry that the absence of my presence was always there for you I could have been a better friend But now I’m here and I thank you for showing me how to let go when there’s nothing new for me to hold on to how to let go when there’s no reason for me to be holding on to you Like I said I could have been a better friend shoulda been better, shoulda been me the way I am now like I’m here now and I’d like to show you how to hold on when there’s nothing left that seems worth fighting for how to hold on ‘cause there’s so much more for you to be holding on to Now show me how to let go when there’s something new for me to hold on to how to let go when there are plenty of reasons, plenty of reasons, for me to be holding onto you I think I’ll hold onto you, my friend, if only in my heart I guess I’ll see you around, if only in my heart, my friend Behind the song: Don’t we all know this story of unrequited love? I found that even one-sided love could be something wonderful. The act of loving is a reward in itself. I doubt that I will ever see him again, but I don’t miss him at all. All I have to do is remember, and he’s right there- in my heart, among the others who have touched my life.