LOVE . HUMANITY . METAMORPHOSIS ♥ ☆ ∞

by Melissa Axel

LOVE . HUMANITY . METAMORPHOSIS ♥ ☆ ∞ cover art
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  • Art Print + Digital Album

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1.
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5.
03:26
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11.
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about

LOVE . HUMANITY . METAMORPHOSIS represents an expansive leap forward from Axel's pensive 5-song EP Transition. Produced by Justin Peacock (Indigo Girls, Colorado Symphony), the record features a wealth of talent, including Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa, Mackenzie Gault of Flobots, and string arrangements by award-winning composers Matthew Nicholl and Kailin Yong.

Powerful yet subtle, comforting yet complex, this music gives voice to the diverse emotional spectrum connecting us all.

credits

released 20 September 2011
________________________ ♥ ☆ ∞ ________________________

All songs by Melissa Axel, except "Every Place Is Home" lyrics by Melissa Axel and James E. Jacoby / music by Melissa Axel,
James E. Jacoby, and Andy White

MELISSA AXEL words, music, vocals, piano, toy piano
JAMES JACOBY tuba, orchestral bass drum, harmony vocals
CURTIS BROOME drums, orchestral percussion
KAILIN YONG string arrangement, violin
TOM HAGERMAN violin
MACKENZIE GAULT viola
BETH ROSBACH cello
LESLIE DAWE cello
MIKE FITZMAURICE double bass
IAN HUTCHISON upright bass, electric bass
EDUARDO "BIJOUX" BARBOSA electric bass
ANDY WHITE acoustic/12-string guitars, electric bass
JUSTIN PEACOCK string arrangement, synth, harmonium, glockenspiel, percussion
MATTHEW NICHOLL string arrangement
TYLER GILMORE additional arranging
AYO AWOSIKA harmony vocals

Produced, engineered, and mixed by Justin Peacock
Strings on tracks 2, 4, 8, & 10 conducted by Justin Peacock
and engineered by Michael C. Morgan
Additional engineering on track 7 by Mike Destito
Assistant engineers: Steven Engel and Nick Sullivan
Mastered by Dave Locke at JP Masters
Recorded at The Hook Factory and Macy Sound Studios,
except "Every Place Is Home" recorded at Coupe Studios,
Evergroove Studios, and The Hook Factory

Painting by Laurie Maves ART
Layout design by Little Green Chair Studio

________________________ ♥ ☆ ∞ ________________________

This record is dedicated to all the beautiful children deep inside us
who still just want to be loved for who they really are.

Be brave. Choose love.

MELISSAAXEL.COM

Ⓟ Melissa Axel © Melissa Axel / Melissa Axel Music (ASCAP), except "Every Place Is Home" © Melissa Axel / Melissa Axel Music (ASCAP), James E. Jacoby / Modern Tuba Music (ASCAP) and Andy White / Mushroom Music/Chrysalis Music (ASCAP)

tags

tags: pop chamber pop humanity introspective love metamorphosis piano singer-songwriter vocal Los Angeles

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Track Name: The Worth Of Things
right in the middle of my life
the telephone in my brain begins to ring
and I am channeling
a song about
the worth of things

these things are old
these things are gone and
we have learned to carry on,
without knowing

the worth of things
the worth of things

burning through the hollow of my gut
all the thoughts of distant pasts
that I have got to surpass
to find a way
to make this last

these things are old
these things are gone and
we have learned to carry on,
without knowing

the worth of things
the worth of things

the worth of things
the worth of things
Track Name: I Want Love To Win
Cyndi said, "anyone listening to God
ain’t hearing hate," but they still carry on
with prejudiced law and inhumane lies
“nourishing” souls with burger-and-fry homilies
just can’t let people be …

all of this fighting and all of this fear
in the hearts of a people united by sheer isolation
all of this fighting and all of this fear
in the hearts of a people united by indoctrination

I want this to stop
I want love to win
I mean it, I want this to stop
I want love to win

a big box of emptiness, circuits, and tubes
is a flat-panel god on our walls now
telling us sit and stand tall in our apathy
rise to no challenges, build no more bridges
and love nothing more of ourselves than our damages
burn out or blend in, the choice is yours …
but no choice stops war

and bacon tastes like death but still we eat it
I guess we want to taste the way out on the way in
born to trump the mundane
as bodies wither and wane
transcend … transcend …
refrain …

I want this to stop
I want love to win
I want this to stop
I want love to win

I want what we feel to matter
I want what we feel to matter
I want peace right now
I want peace right now

I don’t want to wait for it,
wish for it, pray for it
cry for it, fight for it,
bleed for it, die for it …
Track Name: Human Race
the world
is not round
it’s becoming square
it’s becoming air

the world
is not wide
it’s grown smaller and smaller,
burning out from the inside

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the finish line
around and around and around and around we go
and where it stops, nobody knows

the world
is not safe
it’s spinning too fast
now it may not last

the world
is not full
it’s becoming flat
it’s become a battleground again

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the finish line
around and around and around and around we go

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the bitter end …
to the bitter end

but the world will not end
no, the world will not end

there is more to do, there is more to say
there is time to love

there is more to see, there is more to hear
there is time to feel

there is more to find, there is more to know
there is time to forget the cares of this world

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the finish line
around and around and around and around we go

again and again and again and again
it’s a human race to the finish line …
it’s a human race to the finish line …
it’s a human race … to the finish line

around and around and around and around we go
and where it stops, nobody knows
Track Name: Golden Rule (Nothing Wrong With You)
pigtails, she loved pigtails
wore ’em every day to school
hopscotch, catch me if you can
but do unto them as they’d do unto you
that’s the golden rule

tears run, lines get blurry
when you’re afraid of who you are
broken crystal, shattered daydreams
lonely little brilliant star

when kids made fun
when life got hard
mommy held her hand
when it was more than she could stand

she would sing, soft but strong,
“there is nothing wrong with you”
it’s still true

pigtails, she loved pigtails
on her first love back in school
jumped, but never caught that love …
kids can be so cruel

when people stare
when they avert their eyes
no one holds her hand
but when it’s more than she can stand

she still sings, soft but strong,
“there is nothing wrong with you”
it must be true

it takes the shine off, don’t it?
“‘be yourself’ but don’t be you”
fit your heart into our boxes
and play by our rules

oh “do unto them”
means nothing to you
when you do this to me,
is it hurting you too?

but “everyone is special,
everybody’s unique”
that’s what they say,
and I’d like to believe it

so I sing, soft but strong,
“there is nothing wrong with you”
‘cause it’s true

oh sing, soft but strong,
“there is nothing wrong with you"
you know it’s true

nothing wrong, there’s nothing wrong,
there’s nothing wrong with you
nothing wrong, there’s nothing wrong …
with you

pigtails, she loves pigtails
ties her daughter’s hair for school
taught her hopscotch and “do unto them
as you’d have them do unto you”
that’s the golden rule
Track Name: Colors
tell me how our children live their lives
growing up immersed in lies
like “girls are soft and sensitive,
boys are strong and brave”

tell me who our children think they are
reaching to become a star
when “what” means more than “who” or “how”
from cradle to grave

rocking blue, rocking pink,
as we rock our kids to sleep
singing, “this is who you'll be,
this is what you are to me”

well, you don’t have to tell me
who and what and where and when and why
I’ll find my own colors,
like the colors of the sky

there’s a kind of lullaby
that robs us of our will to try
like a thief who sings to you
as he steals your heart

there’s a kind of fairytale
designed to set us up to fail
when our choices aren’t our own,
they’ve been scripted from the start

rocking blue, rocking pink,
as we rock ourselves to sleep
singing, “this is who you'll be,
this is what you are to me”

well, you don’t have to tell me
who and what and where and when and why
I’ll find my own colors,
like the colors of the sky

and this is love, this is trust,
this is how we turn to dust
singing, “this is who I am:
I’m a woman / I’m a man”

well, you don’t have to tell me
who and what and where and when and why
I’ll find my own colors,
like the colors of the sky …

no, you don’t have to tell me
who and what and where and when and why
I’ll find my own colors …
Track Name: Sharper Side
[instrumental]
Track Name: Every Place Is Home
if I play for one
I play for all
from this truth, I cannot stray

fill this empty space
with what my soul creates
let this mind just fall away

I don't need to find one way to go
all I need is love, open sea and road
I don't need a place to call my own
when every place is home

sweeping landscape
surreal sunscape
urban faire and country rain

in the shadow
of our big dreams
we built a love that will sustain

we don't need to find one way to go
all we need is love, open sea and road
we don’t need a place to call our own
when every place is home
every place is home

picking up the pebbles, one by one
city by city, touched by love
distance calls us forward, out to land and sea
we'll roam this whole wide world, just you and me
every place is home

we don't need to find one way to go
all we need is love, open sea and road
every place is home
every place is home
every place is home
every place is home
Track Name: (Love Is) All Around Us
spring ahead to summer’s glow
falling leaves and winter snow
there is but one true thing I know …

time is ticking, running out
to find the meaning beyond the doubt
we’re swimming upstream in this drought
but love is all around us

love in the turning of the earth,
love in the racing of the wind
love in the shadow of our light,
in the aching of our skin
it’s in the way we chase our sorrows,
hunter’s bow and violin …

we cannot fight it, we’ll never win
love is all around us
all around us …

is the universe conspiring against us
when our worlds come crashing down
or is it just the echo
of our pain turning inside out

as within, so we go without
still, love is all
around us

we cannot fight it, we’ll never win

love in the turning of the earth,
love in the racing of the wind
love in the shadow of our light,
in the aching of our skin
it’s in the way we chase our sorrows,
hunter’s bow and violin …

we cannot fight it, we’ll never win
we cannot fight it, we’ll never win
we cannot fight it, love is all …
it’s all … love is all around us
Track Name: Come & Go
come back to me
don’t let me lose you in the ether
you’re either gone or trapped beyond
my line of insight

right on time and out of touch
you’re out of reach, I think too much
and we never meet
in the middle …

how can there be a middle
with no beginning and no end?

ideas, they come and come and come and go
ideas, born of nothing, born of knowing
I know nothing of what I know …

try to breathe, I try to see
just where you’re leading
shadows dance on our romance
and leave me dry

find my way back to the day
when I first heard you play
I knew right then
you were the one

but how can there be a future
with no present and no past?

ideas, they come and come and come and go
ideas, born of nothing, born of knowing
I know nothing of what I know …

come back to me
don’t let me lose you …
Track Name: Ebb & Flow
can you feel me falling, sweetheart?
feet don’t touch the ground
was that “one last kiss” the start?
was that “I love you” the sound

of a long road back, on our way back home
of us growing up, growing old

and still in love, still on fire
though it comes and goes,
ebb and flow

can you hear me calling your name?
we still know the words to this endless song
is this “one more chance” a game
or do we finally see where we belong?

in each other’s arms, each other’s soul
love is a choice, we can be whole

and still in love, still on fire
though it comes and goes,
ebb and flow

one last hope is all I ask
one more 42nd chance at love
that was the question
and I’m counting on
your hidden tenderness
to see us through

through this long road back, on our way back home
see us growing up, growing old

and still in love, still on fire
though it comes and goes,
comes and goes
ebb and flow …
ebb and flow …
ebb and flow …
Track Name: Time To Let Go
hand on the stove and burned, you don’t wanna try
you want me to sell you, tell you why
you should love me again when you know you just won’t
you can’t, you haven’t, you’ll never, you don’t …

you can’t help it
I can’t help you
it’s time to let go

foot on the gas and wind in my hair
you’re driving and smoking, you’re cool—you don’t care
how I’m dying to hear the words you’ll never say
you’re not sure, you hold back, you think it’s okay

‘cause I must see
that you love me
but it’s time to let go
time to let go

you can choose to be right or you can be a lover
feelings feel different when kept under cover
so let’s get in bed, let this rest for tonight
truth looks different in indifferent light …

and you hold me …
like the first time
just as it’s time to let go
time to let go

it’s time … time …
time to let go … time …
Track Name: Merry-Go-Round
what if everything they taught in history
never actually happened?
historic buildings being built, memorials erected
all to keep the illusion intact

what if every morning
the world is re-constructed,
making us believe it’s been
here for years and years … and years

what if it hasn’t, what if it wasn’t,
what if it isn’t all they told us it has been?
what if we never knew?

what if it’s fake, oh, what if it’s real?
now what will we do if everything’s a grand deception?
what if this merry-go-round is just one big magic trick?

by the late ’80s, most of my childhood
was lost to the tide of time
butterfly hairclips, slinky bracelets
Showbiz Pizza, Rollaway Skateway
who’s to say they even existed?
well, who’s to say they didn’t?

what if every morning
the world is re-constructed
making us believe it’s been
here for years and years … and years

what if it hasn’t, what if they weren’t
just old figments of a journey into imaginary dreams?
what if nothing is what it seems?

what if it’s fake, oh, what if it’s real?
now what will we do if everything’s a grand deception?
what if this merry-go-round is just one big magic trick?

it’s all in our heads
this place in our hearts
that stores all our memories
at least the parts we can’t forget
they spin around in my head …
getting vacuumed up
when I go to bed …

this merry-go-round is just
one big magic trick