Music

Try it on for a day, then throw it out anyway the mirror goes both ways even on ordinary days

You forget it all
some things are meant to be left untouched
you can account for it, but it falls through
the way they often do
In a play to make it stick and originate
complications hit and get misunderstood
like a game forever playing

Try it on for a day, then throw it out anyway
the mirror goes both ways even on ordinary days

You reflect it all
another vision to dilute the mix
get attached to it like its all true eclectic residue
in the time it takes to click and resonate
compromises get the pace upset
and you believe everything you’re saying

Try it on for a day, then throw it out anyway
the mirror goes both ways even on ordinary days

Risk is the bliss to where it should be flowing
you can try to keep things open
get the fix out of your plan

Try it on for a day, then throw it out anyway
the mirror goes both ways even on ordinary days
Try it on for a day, then throw it out anyway
the mirror goes both ways even on ordinary days

©2010 P. Ortolano

I can’t seem to get you off my back cause you’ve got your teeth into me
between my hands your little charms
illuminate the causality
and every day and night
you got it locked down tight enough to kill
and each and every step you take
removes you further still
why take the high road when you’re so low?
just take the hard way cause it’s all you know

you’re bringing it on, you’re making it now,
you’re taking it down and you know it.
caught into the flow, swept up by the crowd.

I can’t seem to get you off this track
cause you got your reason to be
with all your vision
in the dark step between the moral debris
and though it’s burning bright
still got the twilight closing at the heel
and even if you look away
your hands are on the wheel
why take the high road when you’re so low?
just take the hard way cause it’s all you know

you’re bringing it on, you’re making it now,
you’re taking it down and you know it.
caught into the flow, swept up by the crowd.

and every day and night
you got it locked down tight enough to kill
and each and every step you take
removes you further still
why take the high road when you’re so low?
just take the hard way cause it’s all you know

you’re bringing it on, you’re making it now,
you’re taking it down and you know it.
you got into the flow, you’re bringing it on,
you’re making it now, swept up by the crowd.

©2010 P. Ortolano

In every crack in every opening with all the bitter pills we have to take
more than a little crime
the first hit comes from behind
cut off the ending just to spite the means
mix the message like some abstract freak figurine
model dependency, just a broken chemistry
But you can say anything, you can do anything
You can say anything with love
Connect the patterns that are fracturing
got the self reflection in the mirroring
more than a little time to
trip the shift in paradigm
cut out limits of uncertainty
take a piece of temporary sanity
an all binding remedy into open empathy
’cause you can say anything, you can do anything
You can say anything with love
in everything and everyone you know
all the matter is of the mind
though we’re breaking borders
with the silence over we’ll be all right
You can say anything, you can change anything
You can say anything with it
You can do anything,
You can say anything with love

©2010 P. Ortolano

If I looked into your eyes Would I meet with your defenses
Or would you simply not be there at all
Leaving me behind

When it comes to you
I know there was something
Like karma repeating
When it comes to you
Will you know me then

I lay my hands out before you
And I ask for sanctuary
And would you offer me your soul, now
Or would you make me wait again

When it comes to you
I can tell that it’s something
We’re always repeating
And it comes to you
As you appear to me

Another a life ago
When you were like the fire in my mind
Another go around
Will I ever rediscover all that we left behind

So I make a promise I can keep
In this life I swear to let you go
And find a place to hide away
’Cause I know that we’ll be back

When it comes to you
I know there was something
This karma completing
When it comes to you
You will know me then
As it comes to you

©2008 Paul Ortolano

Now it’s okay, now it’s all right Now and always we make it all right
I hear what you say, know it’s all right
For now it’s okay we’re keeping it light

Yeah, and I’ve got to hand it to you
When I’m the only one stuck to you

Don’t try to contain, don’t be polite
Come at it again we know that it’s right
Hear what I say, feel the insight
It’s okay to stay we’re keeping it light

Yeah, and I’ve got to hand it to you
When I’m the only one stuck to you

I’m in, I’m in it, we’re in it until it’s done
I can’t wait for it ‘cause it’s all for anyone

Now it’s okay, now it’s all right
Here and always we make it ignite
Feel what I say, hear the insight
It’s okay to stay we’re keeping it light

Yeah, and I’ve got to hand it to you
When I’m the only one stuck to you
Yeah, and I’ve got to hand it to you
Yeah I’m the only one stuck to you

©2008 Paul Ortolano

I knew that we’d never last this way a situation too hard to obey
keeping your secrets just gave them away
and in the distance you try to remain
will of resistance with nothing to gain
then we flip places and start a new game

Let me off the hook
Take me out of line
get me out of here
we draw an imaginary line between us
tell me how this could be defied

It’s time to begin, to know what you want
It’s time to begin if you’re holding on…

I knew that we’d have to pass this way
beyond a promise we’re bound to betray
wearing the faces of indifferent play
if in the moment you try to attain
intuitively responding to change
alter perspective to all you restrain

Let me off the hook now
Take me out of line there
get me out of here when
we draw an imaginary line between us
tell me how this can be defied

It’s time to begin, to know what you want
It’s time to begin if you’re holding on… [to the end]

and where is the hook that’s dragging you down
caught in a memory
and pushing me back from holding you now
keeping this boundary is wearing us out
to honor the lie won’t leave us unaffected til we reject it

Let me off the hook now
Take me out of line there
get me out of here when
we draw that imaginary line between us
you know it’s only our minds between us
with an imaginary line between us
tell me how this could be defied

It’s time to begin, time to give in
It’s never too late to say what you want, you can take it
Jut let it all go, if you’re holding on you forsake it
It’s time to begin, to do what you want
and it’s coming closer
Is it a sin to be what your are?
or deny it, never try it, put a line between us
I knew that we couldn’t last this way

©2007 P. Ortolano

You look so nice
wearing out your pieces of advice
all eyes look twice
as you find your place there before them
and when you get what you get it’s all you feel
I guess you don’t feel much

within my mind
I write the part that you’re playing
held up so high
too high to hear the things you’re saying
and when I give what I give you when I see you
I guess I give too much

I could be the one you thought you’d never find
but you’ll never even know me
because you find me unattractive

young mind learns fast to cultivate adulation
you use your genes to manipulate conversation
and when you hear what you hear it’s like a fix
I guess you got too much

just like a trap the images are placed all around me
what to want and who to want
and where to buy the style that fills you up
and when I find that I find the price too high
I guess I won’t get much

I could be the one you thought you’d never find
but you’ll never even know me
because you find me unattractive

I know things aren’t always as they appear
try not to hide my face in superficial fear
as I talk with you I watch my vision of you change
and all I thought you were and everything just wears away

I won’t be the one to open up your mind
to see beyond the mirror
I guess I’m glad I’ll never be the one
to open up your eyes
’cause you’ll never even know me
because you find me unattractive

©1998 Paul Ortolano

Alone inside your clouded head Stranger to the touch you use to get along
You turn your back on everything
The haze of all you choose will keep it going wrong

The pain that stings will never stop
Acceptance is the only way
To know you’re gonna get through this
You’ve got to kick out all your doubt
And you’ll find, that you’re fine

Imagine all that you could be
If only you had half a mind to let it be
You stake your claim on discontented ways
Around the bush you beat your life away

All those things that you forgot
You know that you won’t be the one
Who’s going to break under the cost
if you step out of line
And you’ll find, that you’re fine

If you’re ever going to get to where you want
Where you want to be…
To be you’ve got to take the shot
You’ll believe it when…
Believe it when it overwhelms you
What goes around…
Comes around comes up behind you
Through us all…
Caught within is inner balance
your freedom of mind

The pain you felt was quite enough
The scars of the memory
The way you’re going to get through this
You’ve got to kick out all your doubt
And you’ll find, that you’re fine.

©2007 P. Ortolano

Can’t sync up with the Loho Disco
got a beat made to blacken the eye
spice and sugar in a void behind a thick crust
still everybody wants a piece of the pie
and if it’s serving time better get in line
may be lucky put your lips to the feet
don’t hold your breath for a groove to pull your heart strings
somehow the DJ keeps on dropping the beat
straight up with a twist of the wrist

Break it shake it down
take it til you drown
Twist and shake it off and
on to the next you found

Another shot at the low down two step
got a target made for spinning the wheels
seller’s market saturated bottom feeding
leaving nothing left to sweeten the deal
the bar gets set so low, high is overrated
the music stops and there’s no place to kneel
step up to a drag of the fist

Break it shake it down
take it til you drown
Twist and shake it off and
into the ground
on to the next you found

you’re out and down and
paint the town black
know the dance so well
you never look back
on the floor you
can take the pounding
never see in the surrounding
what you lack

Break it shake it down
take it til you drown
Twist and shake it off and
swing into the ground
Break it shake it down
take it til you drown
Twist and shake it off and
you throw it down
onto the ground
on to the last you found

©2007 P. Ortolano

Tonight I dream of innocence of fractured moments and memories
I do recall the way
all the days would blend into one
Unknowing of the consequence
I closed my eyes behind my ideals
I do recall the way
that I must have hurt you so

and I wish that I could go back there
because I never learned to let it go
and I can hear the words
repeating in my mind
whispering inside, please forgive…

Torn out of the tragedy
the chapter that was lost to me
now I recall the tears
when I turned my back to go
too blind in my stubbornness
concealing all you meant to me
I cannot recall if I ever had the chance
to tell you so

and I wish that I could go back there
because I never learned to let it go
and I can hear the words
repeating in my mind
whispering inside, please forgive…

the images fade
is time too kind… or too cruel?
If I only knew then – if I could only know now
just one gaze upon a silent smile

and I wish that I could go back there
because I never learned to let it go
and I can hear the words
repeating in my mind
whispering inside, please forgive…

©2003  P. Ortolano

When I saw you, lately still in decay Just then, I had lost myself to you like always
I thought the day would never really come to end this state
Now it’s plain to see that you’re through with me, but
Hey maybe someday, reconnect again,
over it & over it until someday dissipates

I never see what I’m needing
I only know that I’m drawn into
where the cycle is leading
may be just what I need I see in you

Well I saw you, lately so unaware
of the path that switches back around in all you say
and I can’t erase those words from my memory
and clear my head
still it’s plain to see that you’re through with me but
Hey maybe someday, reconnect again…

I never see what I’m needing
I only know that I’m drawn into
where the cycle is leading
may be just what I see in you

and I question my sanity, will I finally find some peace?
with these walls up in front of me,
you’re still looking right through me
and what you see is who you are

When I see you lately, it’s like you’re breathing for me
And I can see so clearly you’re still here.

I never see what I’m needing
I only know that I’m drawn into
where the cycle is leading
may be just what  I see in you
I never see what I’m needing
I only know that I’m drawn into
where the cycle is leading
may be just what I need I see in you

©2007 P. Ortolano

Tired of lingering around when I should know I’ve been hanging around when I should’ve got out
instead of tearing it down you could’ve acted like it meant something

Every piece of the mind you call a low blow
give an inch it’s a mile before you let it go
when I try to be kind you’re disappointed that’s all I could bring

Something’s waiting for me in the back of your mind
You’ve got to hit me so why don’t you come to it?
I’m either on a pedestal or devil from hell
Your sky is always grey Miss black and white
(It’s never right)

If the taste of your smile can knock my guard down
just a moment to sour the benefit of the doubt
like I’ve been here before a dozen times after the bridge was burned
kinetic acidic tongue you never could tame
why should you look at yourself when you’ve got someone to blame
it’s not the baggage you’ve got, it’s what you say and do with what you learn

Something’s waiting for me in the back of your mind
You’ve got to hit me so why don’t you come do it?
either on a pedestal or devil from hell
Your sky is always grey Miss black and white
tunnel vision rage,  your sky is always grey – Miss spite

No matter what you change it’s never right
Tunnel vision rage with no end in sight
You only dream in spite Miss black and white

Loose lips, sling shit
As if possessed… under a hex
A pent up tirade, or is it just the age?

Something’s waiting for me in the back of your mind
You’ve got to hit me so why don’t you come to it?
either on a pedestal or devil from hell
Your sky is always grey Miss black and white
Tunnel vision rage, Miss black and white
Your sky is always grey – Miss spite

No matter what you change it’s never right
Tunnel vision rage with no end in sight
I used to think somehow you’d see the light
Your sky is always grey miss black and white

©2007 P. Ortolano

How sweet my sadness in missing you. I hold the memories I’ve fallen back into
Wherever this world takes you.
If ever you need me then I’ll be here, if ever.

So clear in my mind
Hang on every word
Give in to you, was all I had to learn
Forever this will be true
If ever you need me then I’ll be here, if ever.

Time is healing…

I never thought that I could make you understand
Why I had to let you go to find your own way

I save the moments and walk alone.
And I know you’re happy
You’re finally home.
I’ll never stop loving you
If ever you need me then I’ll be here, if ever.

©2000 Paul Ortolano

Why is it this place holds you deep in embrace? A smile from the energy here returning to my face
This time I think I’ll be here for a while.

Strangers look familiar and trust is implied
Caught up in the culture of the present and open eyed
Hip with a 3rd dimension to the style

Another life apart from everything that I have known
Time stops there but blurs in my memory when I am gone
I’ve been gone too long

Up in the valley of the sunshine
Step into the pace of the possible feeling a mile high
The surface and the soul awaken wide

Will a distant part of yourself to unwind
coming to remember all the balance you left behind
a place where there is growth when worlds collide

Another life apart from everything that I have known
So bright where it burns in my memory and then I’m gone

It’s there that I feel alive & clear
Time starts there, within sanctuary
To heal beyond the fear
As I get closer I get bolder

Time stops there but burns in my memory when I have gone
It’s there that I feel alive & clear
Time stops there but blurs in my memory when I am gone
I’ve been gone too long

©2007 P. Ortolano

If I try to resist, I just crumble when you insist
When there’s doubt in my mind,
you’re the only proof that I can find

It’s in your voice when you call me
And I watch as complicated gives way to serene

It’s so beautiful and it’s so wonderful
and I’ve never had it like this before
giving all of myself into this and over time
I’ve come to realize there’s nothing I’ve left behind

If it’s heavy & serious
when I’m lost & delirious
if it’s all coming down
you’re the one who gets my feet on the ground

It’s every way that you reach me
I can feel this connection of complete symmetry

It’s so beautiful and it’s so wonderful
and I’ve never had it like this before
giving all of myself into this and over time
I’ve come to realize

There’s something amazing I can’t deny
So wrong if we said goodbye…
Together we’ve sealed this heart
I don’t believe we could tear it apart

You’re so beautiful and you’re so wonderful
and I’ve never had it like this before
giving all of my heart into this and over time
I’ve come to realize there’s nothing I’ve left behind

©2005 P. Ortolano

This is the last transmission, I’m gone. ’cause I can barely breathe the air
that’s left upon the world I’m on.
Amidst all the doubt
the faith in me, was blind
With the promises all broken
I’ve nothing left to leave behind.

Turn and turn into the sky
The stars go spinning by…
The speed, the light.
I’m weightless, I feel nothing.

I take a shallow breath,
the display reads on line.
And outside the window,
the station beacon flashes a warning sign.
As I tear through hailing atmosphere
my trembling hands try to hold aligned.

As we burn into the night
the world behind us bends into the light.
The speed, the light.
I’m weightless, I feel like…

The cold of frozen space,
electric anesthetic grace,
the numb of endless night,
the points of light, fly past suicidal pace,
beyond the reach of hopes and dreams,
too far gone- the burn is at it’s peak,
a mass of metal hurling upward-
stage one is complete, the shifting horizon,
into the last acceleration,
temperature rising – instability, the blur of data before me,
then loss of telemetry, starblind insanity,
what will become of me?
spiral into the depths of an infinite sea…

Turn and turn into the sky
The stars go spinning by…

The stars, the light. I’m weightless, I feel nothing.
The stars, the night. I’m weightless, I fly through….

Lyrics by P. Ortolano © 1998