Everyday I build a mask
Up to the task
But now there’s no real me

Call me a collage
Of spare parts found in Berlin’s garage
But there’s no real me

I cut clippings from my dreams
And move them around till they look like me
But there’s no real me

My paste-on eyes can see right through
All of you
But you don’t see me

Josephine entertained
They’d laughed and swooned
All she had was her pain
Carefully tuned

Boy was she was without shame
So elegantly marooned
The mask was just her band-aid
She worked the wound

I finally found a home
Between the clicks of a metronome
Now there’s no real me

I went out on a limb
But the tree disappeared and the sky grew dim
Now there’s no real me

My pain entertains
I see you applaud
Thanking God you’re sane
Now woe is me

I’m cursed to entertain
You laugh and swoon
All I have is my pain
Sharp and in tune
And should I feel ashamed since I’m still here marooned
No one else can be blamed
For me working the wound
I’m still working the wound
I’m still working the wound
I’m still working the wound

(stew’s blog;  passing strange: now playing at the berkeley repertory theatre)

I’d love to see this. Given it’s in Palo Alto up by Stanford, seems like a longshot. We’ll see how well we get things together:

Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts | Stew
Stew’s new musical, Passing Strange, is a work in progress that will be developed and performed at Stanford. The piece employs and toys with the time-honored tradition of the “musical travelogue” filtered through the black bohemian perspective of this acclaimed indie-rocker. It is commissioned by The Public Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Song Portraits by Stew are available, maybe even by the holidays. I love the idea of these things, though I don’t think they’re in the cards for those I love. Mayhaps next year.

New transcription: Bagdad Cafe:

Rage against coffee machines, go ahead
I’ll take that sweet black tea
And honey bread

Cause you know,
Sadness is so ****ing common
It’s not worth a song
So let’s sing of happy happy happy things
Happy things the whole night long

See the video at stewfilm.com.

Still eagerly anticipating a recording of Black Men Ski, which I have heard maybe three times now — the first time way back in 2004 at a show Leah and I attended in L.A. which we came to via Amtrak.

One line I remember from the song is:

“Black men order sushi with a stern Yakuza’s flair”

Latest email blast from Stew and Heidi:

hi,
tune in tonight and hear “gary come home” the most sensitive song Stew has ever written about a missing snail.

SpongeBob’s most beloved mollusk has disappeared!
“SpongeBob SquarePants: Where’s Gary?” premiering 11/11 @ 8 PM/7c! on NICK
(we think that’s 5pm PACIFIC TIME but make sure).

/the partnership

(previously mentioned in July)

I love free concerts by Stew:

Stew (Friday Nights at the Getty)

Date: Friday February 18, 2005, 7:30 pm
Location: Harold M. Williams Auditorium
Admission: Free. Reservations available beginning January 20

Stew has been called many things–singer/songwriter, cabaret philosopher, wiseguy troubadour, punk subversive, even the black Burt Bacharach. With his collaborator Heidi Rodewald, their rich arrangements, incisive lyrics and innovative styles take you beyond the standard pop song. Stew and Heidi were recently commissioned by the Public Theater of New York to develop a new work for the stage.