The Bathroom Mirror

by Bill Foreman

The Bathroom Mirror Cover Art
  00:00 / 00:00
1.
02:06
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2.
04:50
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3.
03:42
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4.
04:53
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5.
05:02
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6.
04:11
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7.
03:58
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8.
03:51
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9.
02:16
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10.
03:41
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11.
02:34
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about

Bill Foreman's first solo record. Recorded, with two exceptions, the morning and early afternoon of April 11, 1997, on a walkman-type cassette recorder in San Diego, CA.

credits

released 01 January 1997
Bill Foreman, all instruments.

tags

tags: alternative acoustic americana folk folk-rock lo-fi lomax rock solo traditional San Diego

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Track Name: You!
You!
By the swimming pool.
You!
You!
By the bay.
You!
Sleeping by the floating sky.
You!
By the blue hill.
You!
You!
By the lily pond.
You!

Sleeping by the floating sky.
Track Name: These Pictures on My Wall
I sit by the window.
I read in the den.
I tend to the garden
And I sit back down again.
Last month, my health failed me.
My powers of speech have left my self.
But I'm well-versed in ancient literature
And I collect it on my shelf.
How long a time it's been
Since my friends have come to call.
But I see them in their pictures
Which still decorate my hall.
My head has grown heavy.
Thoughts have filled it to the brim.
My body's drifting in my living room.
And the daylight's getting dim.

When I looked at those headlights
And they looked right back at me,
How the bloodveins in my head swelled
And then violently released.
I still feel the cold asphalt
And the rush of pouring rain.
I still hear my doctors wonder
How these memories remained.
I know that happiness is the highest good
Towards which proper action strives
And though my actions have been hindered,
I should be happy I survived.
With my memories, I'm surrounded
And when evening comes, they call
But if I could speak my mind I'd shout it
At these pictures on my wall.
Track Name: St. Louis
In January, I shot a stranger
In a routine robbery.
He reached under the register
And my mind flashed white.
His eyes pushed out from his head
And his lips stilled.
My next memory's the highway
And your face at the door.

My mother told me I was crazy,
And I hear the same thing from Marie:
That I could sail to Christchurch
And some joker would chase me.

When you left St. Louis
Did you think you would find me
In that puddle on Sunset
When I shot too much?
When your sister passed on that April
And your father started speaking to God,
Did you think you would marry me
Or marry at all?

My mother told me I was crazy,
And I hear the same thing from Marie:
That I could sail to Christchurch
And some joker would chase me.

If your blood's become tainted,
I won't run to Mexico,
Because I'm not a killer at heart
And I'm yours.
Take my whiskey and drink it.
In a minute I'll join you.
Though I watched a stranger die,
It's not clear I can take this.

My mother told me I was crazy,
And I hear the same thing from Marie:
That I could sail to Christchurch
And some joker would chase me.
I could sail to Christchurch
And some joker would chase me.
Track Name: The Candlelight Crept through the Air
When we kissed on the docks and the various sea-birds were singing
The vapors rose up from the bay with the silver air ringing.
In the still wind, our cheeks touched in a lingering instance
With the blue of the ice rising up in the thickening distance.

When the moist wind sighed
With the lane-lines streaming
And our hands held.
When the cars cried
In the pale, green gleaming
As the night fell.

In the room with the sheets and the lengths of our limbs intertwining,
The red of the dim and the flush of your face were combining.
In a sleep spin, when the wind in the window was creaking,
We reached with the whole of our hands and our fingers were speaking.

With the wind in your face
And the sky in your glasses
And the skin on your hand.
By the white waves
And the rushing razor grasses
On the cool sand.

Last night I drank wine and I watched the sky set into violet.
The candlelight crept through the air and the trees became silent.
I saw stars tumble down and connect to the glowing, blue blossoms
With a picture of you welling up from the watery macrocosm.
Track Name: Where the Wind Blows
He went down the stair
Past the dining room chair.
"Do your best to take care,"
And the door closed.
She picked up the phone.
"Let's not spend this night alone.
For a week he's bound to roam
Where the wind blows."

Soon she gazed upon his face
And her heart began to race.
As she imagined how he'd taste
She closed the front door.
He said, "I waited for your call.
Now, take the phone from out the wall
So we might let our hearts recall
What they were made for."

He thought, "I lied about my trip
But now I've finally seen her slip.
I can't wait to hear her flip
When I call her.
I'll go to a phone booth
And present her with the proof.
Just a taste of the truth
Will appall her."

He paid both his dimes
But got no answer on the line.
A vision filled his mind:
"My God, they're screwing!"
He burst in through the door--
"My love, you've turned into a whore.
I'll beat you both on to the floor
For what you're doing."

She said: "if you cut me I may bleed.
If you punch me I may plead,
But I never will concede
I still love you.
With this I wash my hands.
I've grown deaf to your demands.
I don't even have to stand
To rise above you."

When these words shot through his ear
His stomach swooned like something queer
And so the neighbors wouldn't hear
He closed the window.
He said: "this house was once my home
But tonight has more than shown
How our hearts are bound to roam
Where the wind blows."
Track Name: Crazy
If you should see me
Swinging from a tree
You'll know that I love you.
If I jump off the ground
And never come down,
You'll know my heart's flying.
It's been such a time
Since you've been on my mind
And I'm falling behind in my rent.
I've started to go crazy all about you,
So take me by the arms and carry me away.

If I lie in the river
Until my toes start to shiver
I'll be thinking of you.
If I cry at the moon
Until my heart starts to swoon,
You'll know that I care.
When I see you pass by
My thoughts start to fly
Through the window and hit the cement.
I've started to go crazy all about you,
So take me by the arms and carry me away.

I've made so many plans
Despite creditors' demands
But I'm buoyed by love that is true
I get this feeling
When dreaming of you
But I couldn't live on
If your image was suddenly gone
I get this feeling
We'd both be sorry

If I break into song
In the midst of a throng,
You'll know of my feelings.
If I shout of this love
From the tower above
You'll hear my heart cry.
I wait out the day
For when you walk my way
And I smile as you're passing right by.
I've started to go crazy all about you,
So take me by the arms and carry me away.
Track Name: The Bathroom Mirror
All night long
I've been watching the door.
I've heard footsteps go by
And I looked at the empty floor.
Down on Second Ave.
I hear sirens whine.
In the glass in my window
Your face mixes with mine.

I can't close my mind off.
I've been left without choice.
Am I hearing the radio
Or the sound of your voice?
The apartment is hollow
And I know you're not here
But it's your eyes I see crying
When I look in the bathroom mirror.

You're still a part of me.
You're still a part of me
And you're lost somewhere
In the city.
You're still a part of me.
You left your beating heart in me
And you're walking alone
On the sidewalks and taking the subway.
Track Name: "Body & Soul"
I smell my pillow and I hear a sound.
My eyelids open and I'm earthward bound.
Pretty soon the sisters wheel me around.
"Body & Soul".

It's Tuesday morning so they wash my hair.
The interns greet me as I pass the stair.
I start to mumble and the sisters hear a prayer.
"Body & Soul".

I hear the Father's footsteps up and down the hall.
He'll take all morning but he'll see us all.
I hear him whisper and I hear him call.
"Body & Soul".

The dishes break and then a rolling train goes by.
My head jerks backward and I shut my eye.
My head sees Heaven and the swirling angels sigh.
"Body & Soul".

The sunburnt courtyard. The dusty hill.
The metal grating on my windowsill.
The wooden beads and all these crushed-up pills.
"Body & Soul".