Michael Callen's
Purple Heart
Michael Callen's
Purple Heart
by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka
Screengems EMI Music, Inc. (BMI)
Where the boys are
someone waits for me
a smiling face
a warm embrace
two arms to hold me tenderly
Where the boys are
my true love will be
he's walkin' down
some street in town
and I know he's looking there for me
In a crowd of a million people
I'll find my valentine
then I'll climb to the highest steeple
and tell the world he's mine
Till he holds me
I'll wait impatiently
Where the boys are
where the boys are
where the boys are
someone waits for me
Performed by LOWLIFE
Produced by Anne Bowen
Bass, vocals: Pam ``Rabbit'' Brandt
Guitar: Janet Cleary
Keyboards, lead & backing vocals,
soprano descants: Michael Callen
Drums, vocals: Richard Dworkin
by Michael Callen
Tops and Bottoms Music (BMI)
Dickie D he loves to dance
and he loves to talk bad jive
Play Lady Soul or rock'n'roll
and that man come alive
No disco beat can move his feet
like Motown
It's rhythm'n'blues
that move his shoes
See Dickie D get down
See him go
Bump Bump Bump
That man is a dancin' fool
His hips
Hump, a-hump, hump
Like he believe in the golden rule
Like a kangaroo now
Me and you
We go
Bump, a-bump, bump
See him on that dance floor
workin' up a mean sweat
As he spins and dips
and shakes his hips
He says ``You ain't seen nothin' yet!''
He's my pride and joy
My Nice Jewish Boy
He's my Dickie D dancin' delight
I'm so proud
when he parts the crowd
and he grabs me and says
``Hold on tight!''
As we go
Bump Bump Bump
I'm so happy when me and Dickie D go
Bump, a-bump, bump
Him and me,
we make such sweet harmony
I play the piano (well . . . so-so)
Dickie sings bass and I sing soprano
Oh, I love that melody
As we go
Bump, a-bump, bump
Though he does like baseball
and he hangs out at the gym
Though he's got no cash
and's always talkin' trash,
still, I guess I'm gonna stay
with him
'Cause he can be real sweet
and he can keep a beat
Yeah, he's all right
He's got that rhythm
and when I'm with him
All I wanna do is dance all night
I wanna dance and go
Bump Bump Bump
I'm so happy when me and Dickie D go
Bump, a-bump, bump
Piano: Jonathan Hardy
Bass: Pam ``Rabbit'' Brandt
Saxophones and sax arrangements: John Hagen
Guitar: Richard Lloyd
Drums: Richard Dworkin
by Michael Callen
Tops and Bottoms Music (BMI)
Dedicated to Richard Berkowitz and Larry Kramer, two frontline fighters
This is no time for doubting
to stop and wonder why
This is a time for shouting:
I don't believe the lies!
One way or another
no one will be spared
I call out to my brothers
Doesn't anybody care?
It's like living in wartime
Just like living in wartime
We are living in wartime
It will not go away
More die everyday
This is war! This is war!
Conspiracy of silence
The enemy within
Complacency and arrogance
make us think we cannot win
make us think that the battle has been won
But the thunder in the distance
says it's only just begun
They try to break our spirits
try to keep us in our place
They do it to the women
and the poor of every race
We face a common enemy:
bigotry and greed
But if we fight together
we can find the strength we need
we can find the strength we need
It's like living in wartime
Just like living in wartime
We are living in wartime
Performed by LOWLIFE
Produced by Anne Bowen
Bass, vocals: Pam ``Rabbit'' Brandt
Guitar, vocals: Janet Cleary
Keyboards, vocals: Michael Callen
Drums, vocals: Richard Dworkin
by Michael Callen
Tops and Bottoms Music (BMI)
There across a crowded room
Stood the man of my dreams
He was a long and lean
mean sex machine
packed in tight 501 jeans
Ooooh, he looked me over
From my head down to my shoes
Then he said ``Sorry, boy,
but where you been?
Ain't you heard the news?''
He said ``Oh, no, I'm not crazy,
I don't take no chance
I don't kiss, I just reminisce
And I keep it in my pants''
Oh, I'm goin' crazy
Will someone tell me
what's a poor boy to do?
They say I can't do this
and I can't do that
Oh, I'm soooo confused
Can't it be like the fantasy?
Can't it be like it used to be?
Can't it be like the fantasy?
How to have sex in an epidemic
Without getting caught up in polemic
Home alone, late at night
Takin' matters into my own hands
Lay back, relax, betamax
playin' those
``Boys in the Sand''
Achin', Shakin'
Just a-lookin' for a little release
When in burst the P.C.
(Politically Correct)
Safe Sex and Thought Police
``Stop right there!
We've come to put you to the test
You'd better call your lawyer, boy,
you're under house arrest''
REPEAT CHORUS
Oh, I miss the '70's
Things seemed so simple then
So many men, so little time
Ah, I remember when
Where will it end my friends?
Can you tell me? Who can say?
When what is safe
and what is not
Changes day by day
Got a lemon?
Learn to make some lemonAID
Use a rubber, find a lover
in time you will discover
It's OK to get laid
REPEAT CHORUS
How to have sex
How to have sex
How to have sex
Vocals: Michael Callen, Richard Dworkin
Synthesizers: Elliot Sokolov, Michael Callen, Richard Dworkin
by
Joel
Forrester
Jedible Music (BMI)
additional lyrics by Michael Callen
(It's the)
Twentieth Century Pretense
they find you guilty when you're feelin' blue
I got too tired playing defense
My lifelong love affair with sex is through
I never knew I could take it or leave it
What kind of fool does it take to believe that
old refrain about a boy and a girl
in a holy dream?
I want to scream!
I always thought if I came on the hour
that it would lead me to fame and to power
Now I see a burning love affair is not for me
I gave it up 'cause
Asexual partnering enthralls me
I live with a roommate of a similar sex
We try to avoid any kind of contact between us
except little performances, strictly for the public
I mean to tell you it makes living easy
I used to suffer the shakes
from a queasy, sick desire
before I threw the water on my fire
and his!
Some say it's better to give than receive it
They lie, so why even try to believe
that worn out phrase
that says it's just some crazy phase
I'm goin' through
I say, screw you
I used to think if I came in my shower
that it would lead me to flame on and flower
Now I see
a burning love affair is not for me
I gave it up 'cause
Asexual partnering enthralls me
I live with a roommate
of a sort of a similar sex
We try to avoid
any kind of contact between us
except little performances
strictly for the public
I got a role in the vanguard of fashion
Without a soul or a man or a passion over me
a piece of liberated property
Fuck Free!
Piano: Joel Forrester
Bass: David Hofstra
Drums: Richard Dworkin
Yma Sumac descant: Michael Callen
by Peter Allen, Michael Callen & Marsha Malamet
Warner Bros. Publishing Co. (ASCAP),
Tops and Bottoms Music and Malamution Music (BMI)
If your heart always did
what a normal heart should do
If you always play a part
instead of being
who you really are
Then you might just miss the
one who's standing there
So instead of passing by
show him that you care
Instead of asking why
Why me? And why you?
Why not we two?
'Cause
Love don't need a reason
Love don't always rhyme
And love is all we have for now
What we don't have is time
If we always believe
all the madness that we're taught
Never questioning the rules
then we're living lies
we bought so long ago
How are they to know?
It's not who's wrong or right
it's just another way
And I don't wanna fight
But know I'm gonna stay
with you till the end
With you my friend
REPEAT CHORUS
I'll hold you close
time can't tear us apart
Forever, I will stand by you
We've got to start
with the beat of one heart
Together,
We will see this through
'Cause
Love don't need a reason
Love's never a crime
And love is all we have for now
What we don't have
what we don't have is time
Keyboards: Marsha Malamet
by David Lasley and Don Yowell
Almo Music Corp.
and Gypsy Vans Music Co. (ASCAP)
Lost in suburban shuffle
no one takes the time
to know your name
when you're only small town change
Lost in the schoolboy hustle
they only help
if something's to be gained
when you're only small town change
So I walked away
there was nothin' left to say
and they never even noticed I was leavin'
they said I was small town change
Lost in the fear of flyin'
and I'm hopin' that my dreams
won't drift away
like sand and sea and small town change
Now I'll never understand
why I never found a helpin' hand
all the people, they just watched
while I was leavin'
they said I was small town change
Piano: Michael Callen
by Michael Callen
Tops and Bottoms Music (BMI)
Talk to your Daddy
He misses you. He does--
In his own way
I know it was rough
for you and your brother
but do it for me
Talk to your Daddy
If you could see him
through my eyes
sometimes he tries so hard
But he's old now
and he's set in his ways
And sometimes I worry
he's just counting the days
Please talk to your Daddy
Hello? Son?
Yeah, your Mom said it was you
How's the job?
Who me? Hell, I'm just old
and gettin' older
How's the weather there?
It's gettin' colder here
Wish you could come home...
and see your Mom
She sure misses you boys
What'd you say?
Mama, turn down that TV!
You know I can't hear
with all that noise
She sure misses her boys
Your brother called the other day
said he got screwed out of a
whole day's pay
Him and some foreman,
they got in a fight
That boy's got a bad temper
I told him it served him right
Your mother says I'm too hard on everyone
But I ain't nobody's fool
Do unto others
before they do unto you
That's my golden rule
I ain't nobody's fool
How long we been talkin'?
I ain't made of money
Honey, come and say goodbye
Take care now and call your Mom
I'll let you go now
Anything you need...
just let me know
Now, some would say
I'm just my father's son
that I am cold and distant and
hard on everyone
Father to son, now son to lover
I judge you and begrudge you
the love you need
I wanna be a fool
I wanna be a fool
I wanna be your fool
Piano: Michael Callen
music by Michael Callen
lyrics by Michael Callen and Robert Butler
Tops and Bottoms Music (BMI)
There's a fire burning in your eyes
a fire that takes my breath away
a train goes rumbling through the dark
You catch my stare
You hesitate
You check your watch
and look away
And I can only feel
the racing of my heart
Don't pity me
I've played this game too long
Oh, I have loved
and I have lied
And I'm just trying to reach you
on the other side
Oh, won't you give me just a little sign
You run your fingers through your hair
Each movement seems so well-planned
A downtown train goes screaming by
and I'm stranded here
on the other side
REPEAT CHORUS
Meet me half way
Just meet me half way
We live our lives underground
We hear our own despair
echo down the stairs
I don't wanna wait anymore
I don't wanna wait anymore
Piano: Michael Callen
by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Dick James Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
This performance dedicated with gratitude to
Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, for keeping me alive
Why, hello
Say, can I buy you
another glass of beer?
Well, thanks alot
That's kind of you
it's nice to know you care
These days there's so much goin' on
that no one seems to want to know
I may be just
an old soldier to some
But I know how it feels to grow old
Yeah, that's right
You can see me here most every night
You'll always see me starin'
at the walls and at the lights
Funny, I remember
(oh, it's years ago, I'd say)
I'd stand at that bar
with my friends who've passed away
and drink three times the beer
that I can drink today
Yes, I know how it feels to grow old
I know what they're sayin', son
There goes Old Mad Joe again
Hell, I may be mad at that
I've seen enough
to make a man go out his brains
Well, do they know what it's like
to have a graveyard as a friend?
'Cause that's where they are, boy
All of them
Don't seem likely I'll get friends like that again
Well, it's time I moved on
but it's been great just listenin' to you
and I might even see you
next time I'm passin' through
You're right: There's so much goin' on
that no one seems to wanna know
So keep well, keep well old friend
and have another drink on me
You just ignore all the others
You've got your memories
Piano: Michael Callen
By Bill Russell and Ronald Melrose
Bozonga/Octahedron Music (BMI)
I'd like to be your music
I'd like to be your chair
I'd like to be the food you eat
and be the clothes you wear
I'd like to be your blanket
I'd like to be your comb
I'd like to be your resting place
I'd like to be your home
All Vocals: Michael Callen
Thanks to: Julie Baer, Buddy Barnes, Anne Bowen, Keith Davis, Andy Dworkin, Stewart Lerman, Lindsy Van Gelder, all the musicians, Lesbians and Feminism!
Thanks to the following artists who have profoundly influenced my music and my life: Tom Robinson, Elton John, Bette Midler and of course, Barbra Streisand.
These days, I have two main goals in life: to live long enough to be eligible for membership in SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment); and to help make the world safe for queers. I thought maybe music was a good place to begin.
One final thought: Our diversity is our strength; let it not also be our weakness.
Michael Callen
Manhattan
January 18, 1988
SIGNIFICANT OTHER RECORDS
PO Box 1341
Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113-1341
email: SigOthInc@aol.com