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the waves

by lo-fi lioness

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about

I found myself walking around for a couple of weeks singing these lines: "I'm an archipelago / I'm scattered / I'm a leaky dyke / I'm shattered." Eventually, I found other parts of the song, which I now realize might be an offshoot of a poem from Rilke's Book of Hours:

"I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

"I circle around God, around the primordial tower.
I’ve been circling for thousands of years
and I still don’t know: am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?"

(translation by Joanna Macy)

This song was briefly called "book of ours" and included the line "I'm a dog-eared book / I'm tattered," but then it became what it became.

Here are the ukulele chords:
- The main refrain: Dm F Am F
- The verses: G F G F
- The bridge: Dm G / A

lyrics

What am I?

Am I a body?
Am I a memory?

What am I?

I’m an archipelago
(I’m scattered)
I’m a leaky dyke
(I’m shattered)

What am I?

In my dream last night
I tried to swim across to you
But the lake became an ocean
The waves were pulling me down
You were smiling; you were waving
You were waving goodbye
Oh, what am I?

What am I?

What am I to do?
And now what am I to you?

What am I?

I’m a pussy willow
(I’m bending)
Hand me the superglue
(I need mending)

What am I?

Am I a body?
Am I a shore?
Am I a wave?
What am I for?

What am I?

credits

released December 10, 2022
hazel jane: ukulele + voice

written + recorded December 7-9, 2022

the cover (designed by Agatha K.) incorporates an illustration by Orra White Hitchcock (1796-1863) of slate from Devonshire, England, created for her husband Edward Hitchcock's classes on geology and natural history.

recorded on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sə̓lílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations

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all rights reserved

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about

lo-fi lioness Vancouver, British Columbia

lo-fi music by Hazel Jane Plante, a queer writer and cat photographer. based on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and sə̓lílwətaʔɬ Nations

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