photo credit Douglas Ross

I have a few artists that I return to again and again when moving through heavy times.

That is if I manage to remember to put on music.

Tina Dickow is a Danish singer/songwriter and I adore her lyrics and her sound and how she has changed over time and tried out different directions with her music while still keeping an undefinable core of herself.

Just wanted to share a couple of her songs including lyrics.

NO TIME TO SLEEP

No Time to Sleep (Lyrics)

Who’s gonna sing a song of change
If no-one can imagine life outside the beaten track
And who’s gonna stop a running train
If no-one cares to dwell and no-one wants to look back

Somewhere along the line you gave up asking
When it got a little too complex
But if you don’t question what has been
Does it mean that you don’t care what’s coming next

You got no-one to follow
And no-one will follow you
Ain’t that a relief
That everything and everyone
Must grow in opposition to resistance
And contradiction
This ain’t no time to go to sleep
This ain’t no time to go to sleep
So who’s gonna sing a song of faith
If no-one prays for anything that can’t be bought and sold
And who’s gonna tell the story straight
Does anyone believe there’s still a story to be told

Somewhere along the line you just stopped walking
When the undercurrent got too strong
But someday a lonely busker will come knocking
With a soft and long-forgotten song

If you got no-one to follow
And no-one will follow you
Ain’t that a relief
That everything and everyone
Must grow in opposition to resistance
And contradiction
This ain’t no time to go to sleep
This ain’t no time to go to sleep

An old one that just seems to continue to apply to all kinds of situations in life

OPEN WIDE

Lyrics

Come and take my hand
It’s been so long
Since tender words last fell
From our hard tongues
Tell me, tell me now
Where we go wrong
Tell me there’s a way if we press on

And keep our arms open wide
Don’t say no to anyone
But keep our hearts safe inside
Don’t let go to anyone
And raise above the chaos of love

Come and hold my hand
You look confused
You give your best
And end up feeling used
Tell me why you struggle like you do
To draw the line between the world and you

Just keep your arms open wide
Don’t say no to anyone
But keep your heart safe inside
Don’t let go to anyone
And keep your heart safe from harm
Safe and warm in your hand
And raise above the trials of love

Come and take my hand
It’s been so long
Since tender words last fell
From our hard tongues

We’ll keep our arms open wide
Don’t say no to anyone
But keep our hearts safe inside
Don’t let go to anyone
Yeah, keep our arms open wide
Don’t say no to anyone
But keep our blood safe inside
Not on show for anyone
And raise above the chaos of love
Of love

THE WORLD IS PERFECT

a song for that internal naive believer I carry with me, full of faith in life and in nature and who sees beauty and value in everything…

and a new Danish one that I’ve fallen in love with in the last month

a rough translation of the lyrics

Talk with me, tell me how long will it be

Until we are brave enough

to put into words, what is unfolding

dont look away

dont put it on hold and let it come to a standstill

we must put into words, what is unfolding

tiny little lurches

that we choose to ignore

a small silent twitch

a bit further every day

It happens oh so slowly, it is sneaking up on us

we cannot see it

how oh so slowly it is lost to us

in tiny little lurches and twitches

Run with me, into a future we cannot see

Full of all the things we believe in (which happen automatically?)

fraction by fraction

like the world around us

you are changing in tiny little lurches

while we are looking away

chorus

(it is here and now) we need to pay attention

(it is here and now) you have to keep up

(if we could) see it all a bit from above

(it is here and now) it is slipping down and away

tiny little lurches

that we choose to ignore

a small silent twitch

a bit further every day

It happens oh so slowly, it is sneaking up on us

we cannot see it

how oh so slowly it is lost to us

in tiny little lurches and twitches