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You Have Queer Street Cred

by Sarah Shay

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a cardboard digipack with CD tray, featuring photography by Lou D'Aprile.

    To get the lyrics insert (including stories about and original artwork inspired by the songs), choose the "CD + handmade booklet" item!

    Includes unlimited streaming of You Have Queer Street Cred via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a cardboard digipack with CD tray, featuring photography by Lou D'Aprile. Also includes a handmade lyrics zine, including stories about and original artwork inspired by the songs.

    Includes unlimited streaming of You Have Queer Street Cred via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 4 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Full Digital Discography

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1.
Paper Towns 02:42
I was a dreamer and you were a dream You were a schemer and we were a team You showed me the way to a dozen places new Hidden from sight 'til I followed you I want to build you a castle of stone and sand No wishes or dreams, just these two hands Let's go, we should have hit the road yesterday Roll out the map, show me the way And take me to a paper town Hand in hand, we'll tear each building down See what's hidden behind the lie See what's real, see what's inside I'll let you take the mask from off my face You'll just see a star as it falls from grace Only if you promise to let me in And never ever to never never ever let me down again I want something real, something I can touch I've spent my whole life wanting it this much Maybe I'm fool to still believe That you're the hero I thought I'd need To take me to a paper town You and me, we're gonna burn it down We're gonna set this whole town aglow Should have set a match to this place long ago Even if you never return my call You'll always be the one who set me free Please take my weight, don't let me fall And take me to a paper town Hand in hand, we'll tear each building down See what's hidden behind the lie See what's real, see what's inside Take me to a paper town You and me, we're gonna burn it down We're gonna set this whole town aglow Should have set a match to this place long ago
2.
She was a sweet country girl with big blue eyes and ringlets of gold in her hair She had a daddy called her princess and always said She'd never have a single worry or care But that princess grew up and daddy skipped town And she was stuck without a dime to her name So she pulled up her boots and put on her crown and said "I'll rule this county just the same!" She was the belle of the ball And the top of her class And if you try to cheat her she'll cut you down fast She's as cool as ice and as bold as brass And she'll fill up Carolina's glass She's the Black Market Queen of the Flask Well by about the time she was twenty and five she was bootlegging bourbon and selling off wine Had an eye for a deal and could sniff out a lie 'Fore you knew it girl was selling across the state lines There was a time or two she nearly got caught and spent the rest of her life in shame But a Carolina mama doesn't raise no fools Hail to the queen, long may she reign! She was the belle of the ball And the top of her class And if you try to cheat her she'll cut you down fast She's as cool as ice and bold as brass And she'll fill up Carolina's glass She's the Black Market Queen of the Flask
3.
If I said I loved you Would you believe it I've said it so many times But I don't treat you right, it's true And anyone can see it Even though you complete my life You've been living on that shitty particleboard shelf from Ikea for ten years or more Except the fantasy and sci-fi All crammed on a CD rack I got for free when I worked at the record store There's tacky romance stacked on top of YA paperbacks Empire Falls next to The Stars' Tennis Balls Shakespeare props up Scott Pilgrim My bookshelf's looking pretty grim And I just don't know what to do at all EPIC KAZOO SOLO They say if you love something, set it free But somehow I doubt all my books would come back to me Maybe it's time to grow a pair Stop piling new books everywhere I'm a grown up and I could buy something really made of wood My books bring me so much joy It's time they got the real McCoy Though I know it might cost a bit more That's what God invented credit cards for
4.
I will wait for my Honeybunch Lee 'Til the rivers run dry mountains crumble to the sea I will sit here waiting 'til she knocks upon my door, Tells me she don't want to wander anymore Well my baby, she's traveled for a very long time From Poughkeepsie to Nevada, from Spokane to Anaheim She's been riding on that railway line Since the Orpheum Circuit took away that love of mine Playing two-show, three-show, four-show a day With her dancing chinchillas and accordion to play One day I know she'll get tired of that vaudeville life And come running home to be my little wife I will wait for my Honeybunch Lee 'Til the rivers run dry mountains crumble to the sea I will sit here waiting 'til she knocks upon my door, Tells me she don't want to wander anymore Well, it's been a few years since I heard from Honey Lee Not a telegram from Paris or postcard from Albany She's been playing and a-singing all over this land And the missing her is just about as much as I can stand Well maybe my baby has forgotten all 'bout me Maybe I'm a fool for waiting when she's off in Tuscany But a life without my Honeybunch I never want to see So I'll just keep waiting here for Honey Lee I will wait for my Honeybunch Lee 'Til the rivers run dry mountains crumble to the sea I will sit here waiting 'til she knocks upon my door, Tells me she don't want to wander anymore 'Til her ship returns here to my lovin' shore 'Til the vaudeville life becomes an awful bore 'Til she comes home to be mine forevermore
5.
When I was a girl I wrote silly love songs I now regret That favorably compared me and the boys I liked to Romeo and Juliet But now I'm older and now I'm wiser and now I recognize What real, functional relationships look like So it should come to no surprise I want you to be the Harry to my Sally Can you be the Zoe to my Wash We could be like Han and Leia 'Cause "I know" you love me Like Willow loved her Oz (I will fight you.) Be the Phroso to my Venus Or the Westley to my Buttercup We could spar like Benedick and Beatrice You know we'd never get enough If we had fictional love Just pour me a gin and tonic and I'll be the Nora to your Nick You could be Scott Pilgrim to my Ramona Flowers if I grew my hair "like this" And if either of us had to die Tragically or otherwise I'd rather be your Hazel Grace or your Angel Dumott Schunard You could be the Zero Cool to my Acid Burn Or the Ron to my Hermione We could spar like Lizzie and Mr. Darcy Oh, you know just how it would be If we had fictional love I don't want a fairy tale or a tragic love that ends in tears Don't lead me on like Aragorn Just be my Faramir We could ride your scooter through Monmartre Like Nino and Amélie Or dance across the rooftops If you'd be the Bert to my Mary You could be the Megan to my Fleinhart Or the Hodgins to my Angela We could spar like Gilbert and Anne Shirley Oh, you know we'd never get enough If we had fictional love Or you could be the Jack to my Sally or the Gomez to my Morticia or the Morey to my Babette or the Chase to my Gert or the Ruby to my Sapphire or the Booga to my Tank Girl Or you could be my Little Prince and I could be your rose
6.
Cabbage Rose 03:03
I love the girl called Cabbage Rose I'll never let her cry And if I lose my Cabbage Rose I think that I will die Yes, I think that I will die I've traveled all the land and sea I've rambled here and there I've climbed the mountain tops And I have roamed without a care But now I've found my hobo queen And never will I stray I will belong to Cabbage Rose until my dying day I'll shine the shoes upon your feet I'll fix your leakin' sole I'll sing a song or play a tune To keep stew inside my bowl Give me work and do be kind or I'll have to move along And I will lose the Cabbage Rose for whom I wrote this song Cabbage Rose is tall and fair Her hair is black as night Her cheeks are sweet and pink Her eyes are like two pennies bright Her voice is like a turtledove a-callin' out my name Now I have met my Cabbage Rose I'll never be the same I love the girl called Cabbage Rose I'll never let her cry And if I lose my Cabbage Rose I think that I will die Yes, I think that I will die I think that I will die Yes, I know that I will die
7.
In the summer twilight underneath the ghostly moon The ivy-twined jungle sings a solitary tune Beneath an oak by lightning struck there lies a grave forgot Cracked and broken, water-stained with decimated rot Oh, stay away Oh, boy you better stay away Beware the headless angel listen to her silent cries Far from the sanctuary where your old caretaker lies He warned you of the danger but you didn't heed his word And when the ghouls have got you will your cries for help be heard? Oh, stay away Oh, boy you better stay away from the gates of Hell Where day-folk fear and night-folk dwell A road, and nothing but a road that leads you far afield Lightning strikes the dead red sky in a place where bad things go to die And when you think at last your soul is lost The Hounds of God are there Traveling their own road going into Hell and out They move like spirits in the night unplagued by fear or doubt The gift their maker gave them lets them save you from yourself Pursuing evildoers past the tolling of the bell Oh, stay away Oh, boy you better stay away from the gates of Hell Where day-folk fear and night-folk dwell A road, and nothing but a road that leads you far afield Lightning strikes the dead red sky in a place where bad things go to die And when you think at last your soul is lost The Hounds of God are there
8.
Maybe it's you Maybe it's me Maybe there's some unknown force of the universe and we're on opposite sides of its sea Maybe you're different Maybe I'm not the same But there's something changed in the two of us And I'm too tired to play this game We may never know Did you stop or did I go Whatever happened, it's happened now and there's nothing we can do to change That's the way it is But it feels so strange We used to be lovers or we used to be friends You used to be the one thing in this damn universe that would always make sense at the end But now you're a stranger and I don't understand Why you said those things and made those calls that never seemed like they were part of the plan We may never know Now it seems so long ago That we spoke the same mind and held the same heart and none of that would ever change But that's the way it is Is that so strange? 'Cause there's you and here's me Well I guess there's nothing left for us to do but shake our hands and go our separate ways That's the way it is Life is changes So turn and face 'em
9.
Oh, Vincent 03:36
Oh, Vincent Your matriarchs didn't have luck at home Your mother and hers raised their kids alone They sent their shiftless men packing off No wonder you wanted better odds Oh, Vincent You made all the girls at school swoon and sigh The redhead they all wanted to be like and to be near Oh Vincent, you had it all What else could you want Burning your candle at both ends You did it all All the boys and the girls around your little finger With beauty and talent and wit and luck at first Beautiful, this day Beautiful, this day Beautiful, this day No matter Oh, Vincent You traveled the world with your lovers Left him at home writing letters, begging You to return to your Steepletop Wanting you near but you just couldn't stop Oh, Vincent When you lost your world that night, didn't it sting Couldn't find solace in anything Your head full of what was gone up in flames Even the morphine could only ease the pain Oh Vincent, you had it all What else could you want Burning your candle at both ends You did it all All the boys and the girls around your little finger With beauty and talent and wit and luck at first Beautiful, this day Beautiful, this day Beautiful, this day No matter who has died
10.
In the 1980s when I was a little girl I saw a show that showed me the most magic future world And when my folks were mean I'd think about the world on my TV screen I'd say these words and hope that it would take me far away Computer, end program Take me away from here Take me to the future where life's easier to bear Take me to a time where they've abolished doubt and fear Computer Are you there? I knew there must have been some reason I'd been trapped in that dull life Obviously my real folks were a commander and his wife She'd always understand my thoughts and feelings, she'd just know And one day they'll come and bring me back to my starship home Computer, end program Take me away from here Take me to the future where life's easier to bear Take me to a time where they've abolished doubt and fear Computer Are you there? Even though I'm grown up now And know it's all a fantasy There still are times when life gets to be much too much to be believed And when I feel defeated, brokedown and beaten Like I just can't win I find myself saying these words, as if this time, maybe I'll get in Computer, end program Take me far away from here Take me to that future where Life's easier to bear Take me to that time where they've abolished doubt and fear Computer Are you there? Computer, end program Oh take me, take me so far away from here Take me to that future where Life's got to be a little easier to bear Take me to that time where they've abolished doubt and fear Computer Are you there?

credits

released March 5, 2018

Written and performed by Sarah Shay.
Produced by Sarah Shay and Nathaniel Johnstone in Seattle, WA.

Featuring the Friendship Orchestra:
Aaron J. Shay: banjo (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6) and backing vocals (tracks 1, 4, 5, 6)
Strangely Doesburg: accordion (track 4), upright bass (tracks 2, 4, 5), and backing vocals (track 5)
Nathaniel Johnstone: guitar and pandeiro (track 8)
Dogwood: backing vocals (tracks 5, 7)
Molly Lewis: backing vocals (tracks 5, 10)
Mai Li Pittard: fiddle (track 2)
Unwoman: cello (track 9)
Jake Sele: piano (track 9)
Mr. Noah Kleiman: space noises (track 10)

Copyright 2018. This album and its contents released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.

THANKS:
My friends, especially Strangely, Brandi, Theresa, Juniper, Ry & Bri, and Corey Marie. The people whose stories inspired these songs: Neil Gaiman, John Green, Matt Gourley & James Bladon, A. Wilkenfeld, Gene Roddenberry, Edna St. Vincent Millay. Extra thanks to Nathan, without whom this album would not have happened, and Shenandoah, without whom it would have been a lot harder. All my patrons, subscribers, and supporters online. And The Herringbone Society: Esti, who understands me, and Aaron, who will always be my favorite collaborator.

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Sarah Shay Seattle, Washington

Seattle folk singer bringing you songs that are usually funny but sometimes sad.

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