Let me try not to be coy. I think Stein was possessed by / channeling Guan Yin when she composed Tender Buttons (and yet it was the most authentically Stein Stein ever wrote.) She spent time at Mabel Dodge’s haunted villa in Italy which had a terra cotta statue of Guan Yin before she wrote it, and her brother’s Japan obsession suggests she could have known who she was dealing with. This song also is authentically Heidt being Heidt, in fact more authentically myself than I have yet to manage. And yet when I wrote it I felt compelled to give songwriting credit to Topazz.
When we went to Houston, Texas to perform a very early version of Tender Buttons at the Obsidian Theater with a lot of help from Jennifer Decker of Mildred’s Umbrella, Ray happened to be in Texas, came and played upright bass. He sang the “Cut, cut in white, cut in white so lately” This version of the song hadn’t been written yet, but when Topazz and I wrote it, we took something from his rendition and used it as a chorus.
lyrics
No cup is broken in more places and mended, that is to say a plate is broken and mending does do that it shows that culture is Japanese. It shows the whole element of angels and orders. It does more to choosing and it does more to that ministering counting. It does, it does change in more water.
Supposing a single piece is a hair supposing more of them are orderly, does that show that strength, does that show that joint, does that show that balloon famously. Does it.
credits
from Stand Firm: Selected Songs 1993-2018,
released December 17, 2018
Fist of Kindness
Orin Buck- bass, recording
Cassandra Victoria Chopourian- trumpet
Steve Dworkin- accordion
Rich Gross- banjo, vocals
David Gould- drums
Gary Heidt- guitar, vocals
Matt Metzgar- percussion, vocals
Gary Heidt is a founding member of the Perceiver of Sound League, Mammals of Zod and Fist of Kindness. Born in Texas, he lived in NYC for a little under 30 years and now lives in Greensboro. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Heidt
Ahead of its time, but it's so long ago now that that wouldn't bother anyone anymore. Really several bands in one. Every album is different and every song on every album is different. Gary Heidt
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