My Maudlin Career

Camera Obscura My Maudlin Career Lyrics
1.French Navy

Spent a week in a dusty library
Waiting for some words to jump at me
We met by a trick of fate
French navy, my sailor mate

We met by the moon on a silvery lake
You came my way
Said, 'I want you to stay'

You with your dietary restriction
Said you loved me with a lot of conviction
I was waiting to be struck by lightning
Waiting for somebody exciting

Like you
Oh, the thing that you do
You make me go, 'Oooh'
With the things that you do, you do, you do

I wanted to control it
But love, I couldn't hold it
I wanted to control it
But love, I couldn't hold it

I'll be criticized for lending out my eye
I was criticized for letting you break my heart
Why would a ___ disappoint unless
Fooling all but I'm on tenderhooks, ooh with the looks

On tenderhooks,
Ooh, with the looks, the looks, the looks

I wanted to control it
But love, I couldn't hold it
I wanted to control it
But love, I couldn't hold it

Relationships were something I used to do
Convince me they are better for me and you
We met by a trick of fate
French navy, my sailor-

I wanted to control it
But love, I couldn't hold it
I wanted to control it
But love, I couldn't hold it

I wanted to control it
But love, I couldn't hold it
I wanted to control it
But love, I couldn't hold it


2.The Sweetest Thing

I'm going on a date tonight
To try to fall out of love with you
I know, I know this is a crime
But I don't know what else to do

My love, you're in a magazine
My love, you're doing fine, you're on TV
You pull my heart out and then you run away
From Chicago to Cleveland you leave me pain
You leave me pain

When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
I would trade my mother to hear you sing
When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
I would trade my mother

On the bus radio, 'Fifty ways to leave your lover alone'
I laughed at the irony
But life is stupid, the irony all lost on me
It got lost on me

When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
I would trade my mother to hear you sing
When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
I would trade my mother

You challenged me to write a love song
Here it is, I think I got it wrong
I focused on the negative
The pain was too much to write and sing
Oh, it was not a nice incentive

When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
I would trade my other to hear you sing
When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
I would trade my other to hear you sing

When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
I would trade my mother to hear you sing
When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
I would trade my mother
But she don't know just how far I'd go
Would I walk for a hundred miles for an instant northern smile?


3.You Told A Lie

If you were a season, you would be in bloom
I wish I had good reason to see you soon
No need to convince me that you were a catch
I bought my ticket and so at last

Who was it that said that love conquers all?
Oh he was a fool cause it doesn't add up
Should I believe you told a lie?
On the way to my heart and on the way back

Are my eyes the coldest blue?
You said once this was true
If it is I don't know what I'll do
Cause I'm stuck with them
And they're stuck on you

Was I quite bad that
nothing could never challenged anyone
Or was I a lazy lazy snake
Do you want me to be a gentle diplomat
Oh you can beg and you can plead

Are my eyes the coldest blue?
You said once this was true
If it is I don't know what I'll do
Cause I'm stuck with them
And they're stuck on you

Are my eyes the coldest blue?
You said once this was true
If it is I don't know what I'll do

Cause I'm stuck with them
And you're stuck on you
Cause I'm stuck with them
And they're stuck on you

I'm stuck with him
And they're stuck on you
I'm stuck with them
And they're stuck on you


4.Away With Murder

How many times have you told me you wanna die?
How many times have you told me now that you've tried?
How many times will I let you get away with murder?
Oh and how many times will you make me feel alive?

Hey I got a feeling that there is something going wrong
I put my thoughts in a letter, send it when I'm feeling strong
Anytime you became the girl that you wanted to be
Oh I told you all along there was no point looking to me

Oh it's been hard to be strong with all of this going on
Yeah it's been hard to be strong with all of this going on
I've been lonely too, like you
I'm just like you
I'm just like you

People have been traveling miles just to hear us sing
It's a February night and I don't want to feel anything
To get away maybe I could sell kisses
In Portland I tried my pretty hand at fishing

Oh it's been hard to be strong with all of this going on
Yeah it's been hard to be strong with all of this going on
I have been lonely too, like you
I'm just like you
I'm just like you
I'm just like you
I'm just like you

Hey I got a feeling there is something going wrong
I put my thoughts in a letter, send it when I'm feeling strong


5.Swans

There's flowers in my house
And I bought them myself
No surprises in the record collection
You must have thought I was someone else

I'm still afraid to get lost
In a city I might explore
But I'm not afraid to have
An eloquent boy at my door
at my door
at my door
at my door

Oh you want to be a writer
Fantastic idea
You say you've never seen Alaska
I really think you'll like it there

Maybe you should travel with me
Is this the best idea
Because you've never seen a red wood
and you've never dodged a deer
a deer
a deer
dear
a deer
a deer
my dear

One swan is deceiving us all
Oh I for one should know
I never felt myself so graceful
And I never swam so slow
so slow
so slow
so slow...


6.James

James, he came to my place
He said he had to see my face
He hopes that we can still be friends
In his own way, he'll love me til the end

And, James, he came to the door
Wanting to know for sure
Why love gets up and goes
I'm sorry, but it had no place to grow
Oh, James. My love for you is stronger, don't you know?

I'd like to celebrate you, dear
All in all, it's been a pretty good year
I looked deep within myself
I got scared by just how hard I fell
Oh, James. You broke me, I thought I knew you well.

Oh, you had me
Honey and me, oh, sun and the moon
I'll be fine by June
I could tell that you weren't well
Oh, James. You broke me, I thought I knew you well
Oh, James. You broke me, I thought I knew you well

Oh, can't you see you belong with me?
I could tell that you weren't well
Oh, James. You broke me, I thought I knew you well
Oh, James. You broke me, I thought I knew you well
Oh, James. You broke me, I thought I knew you well


7.Careless Love


8.My Maudlin Career

You kissed me on the forehead
Now these kisses give me concussion
We were love at first sight
Now this crush, is crushing

I retraced your steps through the city of romance lazily
I took to the desert with your harshest words and they saved me

I'll bail you out again
I've got the readies
I'm not a child I know
We're not going steady

Your pain's gigantic but it's not as big as your ego
Promise not to abandon you, please let me go

I harbored worried feelings
Like they were worth protecting
You say I'm too kind and sentimental
Like you could catch affection

Oh in your eyes there's a sadness
Enough to kill the both of us
Are those eyes overrated?
They make me want to give up on love

I'll brace myself for the loneliness
Say hello to feelings that I despise
This maudlin career has come to an end
I don't want to be sad again

This maudlin career has come to an end
I don't want to be sad again

This maudlin career has come to an end
I don't want to be sad again


9.Forests And Sands

I'm in a van, and you're holding my hand
You're traveling with me through forest and sands
I've been innocently learning a language
and you've been taking full advantage, haven't you?
Oh, don't say it's true

I've lost a friend, I've been silenced again
And we kissed once
Hey, but that was in lust
I know you need more than giving moments
and sentimental stories and words only spoken seemingly
And I won't win your heart that way

Oh, it feels like none of this is real
I pretend that my heart and my head are well
But if the blood pumping through my veins could freeze
like a river in Toronto, then I'd be pleased
You said I made you feel warm, said I made you feel warm inside


10.Other Towns And Cities

Drinking whiskey reminds me of you
You're the first in ages to have gotten through
I know you mean well, I know that you do
But sooner or later you're going to break me in two

Were my pupils dilated?
Could you tell that I liked you?
We were so unlikely
You flirt with an ex, put me to the test
Still I want to tell you that I love you the best

We turned the radiators on and there was no way back
Did you know
You had The Plough star trail on your back?
Your voice is quiet and I need it loud
In the night you went up
And the morning you went down

It's like you to forbid me to say goodnight
I had your brown eyes and limbs
On me through the night
These words are weak and to your dislike
You'll never believe them so I guess it's alright

Do you like the view I show you?
I say look at the light
Do you still miss the way that I hold you?
In other towns and cities
Who's holding you tonight?

The dresses came out of the bag then the tears came
Drinking has never been the same again
I shared your trouble, I shared your weight
I lost it with you today

We don't share a birthday but we do share a sign
We shared somethig or was it all in my mind
There was talk of love and how I need it back
I'd be better for you than that last love of mine

Do you like the view I show you?
I say look at the light
Do you still miss the way that I hold you?
In other towns and cities
Who's holding you tonight?
You're in another town or city
You mean nothing to me tonight


11.Honey In The Sun

A half full moon in Mexico City I think of you
When I saw the Southern Cross I wished you had too
I wish my heart was as cold as the morning dew
But it's as warm as saxophones and honey in the sun for you

I've been spending half the year
In a plane going up and down
You've been seeing other people from a nearby town
Been obsessing and getting depressed about us
Excess baggage and other stupid band stuff

I wish my heart was cold
But it's warmer than before
I wish my heart was as cold as the morning dew
But it's as warm as saxophones in
And honey in the sun for you

When you said the veins in my left hand
Were shaped like a tree
Was that the very last time you really looked at me?
I'm in training to become as cold as ice
I'm determined to protect my feelings, to disguise

When I said I didn't love you I told you a lie
There no one above you although I try
Would you laugh at the time I spent calling your name
Over and over and over and over again?

I wish my heart was cold
But it's warmer than before
I wish my heart was as cold as the morning dew
But it's as warm as saxophones in
And honey in the sun for you

The trouble is I got me close to hating me
When I wake up in the morning its your face I see
Where you once made me feel less afraid
You've got me pouring myself all over this page

I wish my heart was cold
But it's warmer than before
I wish my heart was as cold as the morning dew
But it's as warm as saxophones in
And honey in the sun for you
But it's as warm as saxophones in
And honey in the sun for you