Octopus : An Experiment

by Joan Krygsman

An experiment using my own chords, rhythms, arrangements and lyrics .. and letting AI do the singing and production.

3:12

Mama's Got a Bag of Fingers

Songwriter : Joan Krygsman
3:57

Windfall

Songwriter : Joan Krygsman
3:47

No

Songwriter : Joan Krygsman
2:59

Sid the Octopus

Songwriter : Joan Krygsman
3:06

October the Third

Songwriter : Joan Krygsman
3:44

Let Me Tie the Knot for You

Songwriter : Joan Krygsman
2:39

Little Spoon

Songwriter : Joan Krygsman

Lyrics

When she was four she pinky swore
While sitting in a swing
When the promise broke in half
They snipped the tiny thing
At seventeen she married
But her husband soon was gone
She lopped off the golden wedding ring
And the finger it was on.
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
That she carries everywhere.
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
So she always has a spare
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
With excessive wear and tear
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
They need digital repair
She flipped the bird at twenty-two
At entirely the wrong time
The injured party chopped it off
So she pickled it in brine
At twenty-nine she killed a man
Because he wouldn’t linger
Instead of facing life in jail
They took her trigger finger.
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
And she’s worn them to the bone
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
Most of them her own
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
And she runs them through her hair
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
She adores it when you stare
Desperate to leave town she stuck
Her thumb out on the highway
And knocked the digit cleanly off
On the mirror of a semi.
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
They’re her dearest joy and pride
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
She couldn’t lose them if she tried
When they get a little itchy
She scratches them and sighs
She waggles them at children
Or she sneaks them into pies
She never has to lift them
She can count her way past ten
She uses them to beckon
And then frighten off the men
She keeps two tied together
In a tiny little cross
For luck she says and then she counts
The thumb wars she has lost
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
The thumbs are hard and green
She plays with them on subways
And she loves to make a scene
She cannot hold a cigarette
Or use a fork and knife
She tucks cigars between her toes
She’s spoon fed by her wife
Watch out for Mama on the road
Be careful where you look
She waves to all the passers-by
But she’s got one … hell .. of .. a .. left .. hook
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
Mama’s got a bag of fingers
You will drink and I will breathe
Rising from what lies beneath
You will pulse, and I will swell
In darkness where the sinners dwell
You will ripen, I will bruise
The love I crave, the pain I choose
You will hang, and I will bleed
In this moment born of need
This fruit lies rotting in my palm …….Windfall.
That night we slept forever
By morning we were found
Fractured in the wreckage
And scattered on the ground
Woken by the thunder
Limp and shorn of hope
Filled with rot and swinging
On the far end of a rope.
I will hunger, you will feed
Bursting from this blackened seed
I will struggle, you will fall
Into this land I sowed with salt
I will bloom, and you will fade
Drowning in the love we made
Taste the fruit and drink the wine
Thirst eternal, love divine
I dreamed I jumped, I only fell …… Windfall
You will hang, and I will bleed
In this moment born of need
Taste the fruit and drink the wine
Thirst eternal, love divine
I don’t want ano .. ther drink
You’ve had way too much .. I think
I know it’s time for me .. to leave
How could I have been so .. naive?
You told me we would take .. it slow
Until I gave up say .. ing no
This didn’t end the way … I planned
What part of no did you not un .. der … stand
I was scared I might offend you
Now i’m trying to pretend you
Didn’t force me to my knees you
Didn’t tell me not to tease you
Didn’t make me beg you please
You didn’t watch me slowly freeze
This is submission by degrees
Malfeasance in parentheses.
I meant NO - NO NO NO NO NO
You were acting like a Ro.. meo
Like you were calling in a debt .. I owe
I was drowning in the un .. dertow
But you said it was the af .. terglow
I’ll save us all the blow .. by blow
They tell me this is how .. we grow
Looking back there is one thing .. I know
I wasn’t your first ro .. deo
Cause I don’t know what I stayed for
After all the games you played, you’re
Not the sort of man I prayed for
Or I’d fall on a grenade for
Can’t obliterate this stain or
The echoes of this pain
But this will not be in vain, I swear
You won’t do this again
I meant NO - NO NO NO NO NO
My silence..
Wasn’t my permission
To force me into submission
But my vulnerable position
And your singular ambition
And the lies told by omission
Meant this wasn’t long division
There was only one condition
To the price of my admission
The entire time we’re fighting
You said isn’t this exciting
And although I felt like crying
I was trying to survive and so
I just kept right on smiling
And pretending it was fine
Things were so different in my mind
Now I’m gonna hit rewind ..
Let me tell you how this works ..
I said I’m grateful for .. the ride
But it doesn’t mean you’ll come .. inside
Don’t need you to change .. my mind
That wasn’t a release .. I signed
Just because I didn’t say .. the word
Doesn’t mean the lines .. get blurred
This day won’t end the way … you planned
What part of no did you not un .. der … stand
I don’t mean maybe later
I’m not an alligator
Nothing left to wait for
I wasn’t bought and paid for
I don’t want you to beg, just
Regret you ever met me
A hundred ways to say no
For yes, you’d hear me say so
I meant NO - NO NO NO NO
My true love is a mystery
He’s magical and wise
I lost him on the sofa
When he closed his eyes.
My true love is a writer
He told me, it’s a fact.
That’s why he keeps his extra ink
Neatly in a sack.
Oogie oogie oogie
He’s the the Mata Hari of Calamari
He’s the Captain Kidd Of Squid
He’s an Act of God, a Cephalopod
He’s the Octopus named Sid.
My love, he’s a swimmer.
He told me, so it’s true.
He takes a cold bath every day.
That’s why his skin is blue.
My true love had a siamese twin
He told me, I believe
That’s why he has two extra arms
Sprouting from each sleeve
Oogie oogie oogie.
He’s the Mata Hari Of Calamari
He’s the Captain Kidd Of Squid
He’s an Act of God, a Cephalopod
He’s the Octopus named Sid.
His suckers sink into my skin
Pulling bits of me within
Ink surrounds us in a cloud
Hiding what i’m on about
He was spellbound by my lack of limbs.
Two above and two below
But he met a snake last christmas
And left me in the snow
Oogie oogie oogie
Oh lord send me back to
October the third
When words went unspoken
And lines were still blurred
The sun shone bright yellow
The heavens deep blue
Warm wind was like music
I loved only you
Ohhhhhhhh ..... only you
I’m going back to
October the third
I won’t tell a soul
And I won’t break my word
I’ll dream there forever
I’ll drink summer wine
And leave you the last
Of these unwritten lines
Ohhhhhhhh..... these lines
They’ll hang in the balance
Of ignorant bliss
They’ll seal up the tomb
Of our very last kiss
You’ll tell me it’s over
You’ll have the last word
I’ll be safe in the silence
Of October the third
I won’t face the dawn on
The fourth of October
Where chill winter winds
Leave men broken and sober
The birds have long flown and
There’s ice on the pond
And leaves in full colour
Lie wet on the ground
Ohhhhhhhh ..... on the ground
I’ll live out my days on
October the third
Where words are still secrets
And lines have all blurred
The sun shines bright yellow
The heavens deep blue
Warm wind is like music
I love only you
Ohhhhhhh ..... only you
His grip was tight, she could not fight
In sunlight through the glass stained blue and red
The preacher man held out his hand so gently
Let me tie the knot for you he said
He’d laid her bare, she’d loosed her hair
He watched her from the stately feather bed.
With trembling hands she gave the man a ribbon
Let me tie the knot for you he said
The heart is a wild beast a’running
And love is just the dream in which its caught
And the ring upon your tiny little finger
Is a tangled and eternal silver knot
At the mirror, before dinner
He jerked the silk cravat about his head
She heard the hiss, tried calming with a whisper
Let me tie the knot for you she said
A token of the man she’d loved
He seized the lover’s scarf around her neck.
With narrowed eyes, he pulled it ever tighter
Let me tie the knot for you he said
With skin turned blue and eyes gone red
A line of angry purple round her throat
She followed close behind him,
From dusk til every dawn
Her ragged voice a whisper of reproach
The heart is a wild beast a’running
And love is just the dream in which its caught
And the ring upon my tiny little finger
Is a poisonous and bitter silver knot.
With unpaid debt, he never slept
Hold tight, my love, I think we’ve reached the end
Her little ghost held up the rope in moonlight
Let me tie the knot for you she said
The heart is a wild beast a’running
And love is just the dream in which its caught
And the ring upon my tiny little finger
Is an infinite and frozen silver knot.
If I had to be a spoon, I’d be the big one
But honestly I’d rather be a shovel
I’m happier alone in any room
My heart is an involuntary muscle.
If I told you that I loved you, I’d be lying
I’d say anything to make this conversation end.
The entire awkward time, I will be smiling
Why the hell can men and women not be friends?
I never feel the need to be protected.
I’d sooner stab my eyes than turn my back
I’ll hold you when I know that you expect it
But I’d much prefer you didn’t hold me back.
If I had to be a spoon, I’d be the big one
But honestly I’d rather be a shovel
I’m happier alone in any room
My heart is an involuntary muscle.
I’m a porcupine, so please don’t try to pet me.
My quills are hidden deep beneath my skin.
I promise if you touch me you’ll regret it
It’s getting late, I won’t warn you again.
That spoon feels mostly like a bear trap
I’ll be gnawing off my foot to get away
The weight of expectation is exhausting
There really has to be a better way.
If I had to be a spoon, I’d be the big one
But honestly I’d rather be a shovel
I’m happier alone in any room
My heart is an involuntary muscle.

Lyrics

Mama's Got a Bag of Fingers

Windfall

No

Sid the Octopus

October the Third

Let Me Tie the Knot for You

Little Spoon