VONDA SHEPARD
By 7:30 (1999)


1: By 7:30
----------
I have been lost in this verbal rain
I went to bed feeling no pain
I was drowning baby, you're my wine
You're my thoughts, you're my silence
You're my sense of time

By 7:30 you'll fall in love with me
Do you believe in destiny?
I believe... by 7:30

Maybe your love's an uncrackable code
Or maybe your love is a railroad
That you ride when you are all alone
And you speed down the tracks
To what you call home

By 7:30 you'll fall in love with me
Do you believe in destiny?
I believe... by 7:30

Quite unsubtle these thoughts
You send me
Or is it I who sends them unreceived?
And they fly through the air
At enormous speed
Like a boomerang flying back at me

By 7:30 you'll fall in love with me
So you believe in destiny?
I believe... by 7:30 



2: Mercy
--------
I was raised on nothing, so I save my money
Emotional poverty, well I'm used to running

How amazing you make me feel
If I am crazy, don't wanna know what's real

You're like a wave of heaven and you're breaking on me
To change the destiny of a girl that's lonely

But how amazing and how surreal
To live with a desire that you may never feel

I can sell everything but my soul
I have never settled just to play some kind of role

I have give everything baby but my hand
Mercy can you save me from this wonderful man

I feel like a can
I kick myself down the street
I'm crushed for a while
Then I get on my feet

I loved the illusive in every man I saw
I draw them to me like they were the last straw

I can sell everything baby but my soul
I have never settled just to play some kind of role
I have given everything baby but my hand
Mercy can you save me from this wonderful man 



3: Clear
--------
If I don't take you seriously
If I can laugh at your randomness
If I can have a little fun baby
If I can only feel my bliss
If I can ignore my conscience
And reject my angry guide
If I can take my soul out of hiding
And get it right back
To reviving what had died
I wanna be alive... so alive

If I can love you without hating you
If I can accept your lack of guilt
If I can walk across the skinny wire
If I can make my conscience tilt
If I can lose myself for once
If I can regain my youth
I'm so sick and tired of lying
Gonna dig down to the truth

I found my Independence here
I finally let go of my fear
My mind is finally, finally clear, clear, clear

Whoever said we had to be crazy glued
To our personalities?
I wanna jump on the bed and hit the ceiling
Any symbol of being free
Last night you laughed so hard
I could see your shining bliss

Don't wanna live another day
Without knowing how you kiss

I found my Independence here
I finally let go of my fear
My mind is finally, finally clear, clear, clear 



4: Sail On By
-------------
I've got a mind that you'll never see
I've got amazing remedies
I've got a heart that only wants to please
You wouldn't notice if I slapped you and I

Let go my friend
Telling you I, Let go my friend
You know I had to, let go my friend
Telling you I, let go my friend as you

Sail on by
No girl is an island
I live in denial as you
Sail on by
There's more behind this crying
Than meets the eye

I've got a hand on the radio
I've got a song on the video
I work my fingers to the bone
You wouldn't notice
If I were a slacker and I

Let go my friend
Telling you I, let go my friend
You know I had to, let go my friend
Telling you I, Let go my friend

Sail on by
No girl is an island
I live in denial as you
Sail on by
There's more behind this crying
Than meets the eye you

Repeat chorus 



5: Confetti
-----------
Skinny little brats
Walking down Avenue A
Dangling their cigarettes
Their Independence Day
Tears like filigrees
Wear them on their sleeves
Nobody's main squeeze
It's thirty-five degrees

Poetry of ordinary life is what I live for
They just wanna be seen
They just wanna be heard...said

My words are like Confetti
And you never pick them up
They fall to the ground
I need someone to lift me up

So diaphanous so ephemeral
And all those bad words
They never learned in school
Groovy like my mamma was
In her black turtle neck
She was so high strung
She was so low tech

Poetry and tattooed dreams
And fourteen caret nose rings
The children of elite
Are trying to be street saying

My words are like confetti
And you never pick them up
They fall to the ground
I need someone to lift me up

Repeat chorus 



6: Cross To Bear
----------------
You ran away with your conscience dear
There was a red flag waving in my ear saying
"Stay away, you've got something to fear"
Well why did I not choose to hear?
Well I am through with suffering
Gonna make better choices I don't need no wedding ring
I can sing, I can dance
But I can't make thus feeling cease
Cause deep in my soul you left a permanent crease and

We all got our cross to bear
Our Star of David, our dreadlocked hair
And oh yeah baby, I still care
And if you need some help
You know I'll always be there

Well it's been a strange year
You've been a very bad dog
As my fire went out
You'd put on another log
But it was worth never having any peace
And deep in my soul you left a permanent crease and

Repeat chorus

Some nights I thought I'd cry forever
I'd wish him away and then I'd turn into a beggar
But it was worth always scraping my knees
And deep in my soul you left a permanent crease

I wear my heart like a wrinkle on my sleeve

And I've got the aching love that only you can relieve
But I'm not afraid to go down with a sinking friend
I'm gonna live out my dreams even if they kill me in the end

Repeat chorus 



7: This is Crazy Now
Words & Music by Vonda Shepard
------------------------------
Blown like the wind, restless again
My only friend has gone away
Washed like the tide but I'm still alive
I'm gonna drive all night long

This is crazy now, I'll fill the space somehow
If there were some way to get through
This is crazy now, I'll fill the space somehow
I can't walk away from you

Shaken like a leaf, sharpened like a reef
All of my senses need relief
Looking out to sea, I still believe
That you and I were meant to be

This is crazy now, I'll fill the space somehow
If there were some way to get through
This is crazy now (like a finger paint)
Fill the space somehow (smearing in the rain)
I can't walk away from you (wash it all away)

This is crazy now (shaken like a leaf)
I'll fill the space somehow (sharpened like a reef)
I can't walk away from you

This is crazy now (shaken like a leaf)
Fill the space somehow (sharpened like a reef)
I can't walk away from you 



8: Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow (Duet with Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls)
words by Vonda Shepard
music by Vonda Shepard & James Newton Howard
--------------------------------------------
I like the way you wanted me
Every night for so long baby
I like the way you needed me
Every time things got rocky

I was believing in you
Am I mistaken do you say,
Do you say what you mean
I want our love to last forever

But I'd rather you be mean than love and lie
I'd rather hear the truth and have to say goodbye
I'd rather take a blow at least then I would know
But baby don't you break my heart slow

I like the way you'd hold me
Every night for so long baby
And I like the way you'd say my name
In the middle of the night
While you were sleeping

I was believing in you
Was I mistaken
Do you mean, mean what you say
When you say our love could last forever

Well I'd rather you be mean than love and lie
I'd rather hear the truth and have to say goodbye
I'd rather take a blow at least then I would know
But baby don't you break my heart slow

(Bridge)
You would run around and lead me on forever
While I wait at home thinking that we're together
I wanted our love to last forever

Well I'd rather you be mean than love and lie
I'd rather hear the truth and have to say goodbye
I'd rather take a blow at least then I would know
But baby don't you break my heart slow 



9: You And Me
-------------
Part of me wants to break the ice
And part of me wants to roll the dice
Exactly how it stands
Part of me wants to roll the dice
And part of me wants to leave them curled up in my hands

Where they will be safe and no one will know
How I really feel and I'll never be real
And I'll roll with the punches that I'll never feel
And I'll have a heart that no one can steal

Chorus
It's you and me and you're nowhere to be found
I'm rolling on the ground
It's me and you and I'm nowhere to be found

Part of me wants to break these chains
And part of me wants to keep them locked up tight
Part of me wants to stop these rains
And part of me wants them to fall all night

Fall on my head just to wake me up
Anything to drench my half-empty cup
And I'm sorry baby I've had enough
I'm tired of your promised tearing me up

Repeat Chorus

You will be safe and no one will know
How you really feel and you'll never be real
And you'll roll with the punches that you'll never feel
And you'll have a heart that I'll never steal

Repeat Chorus 



10: Venus is Breaking
Words and Music by Vonda Shepard
--------------------------------
I kissed this man with one of my lips
I bumped this man with one of my hips

Now I'm sad and I'm free again, he won't be coming back
Save my victory get this monkey off my back

It's snowing outside, it's a desert in here
It blows my mind how you disappeared

And I feel so strange, I need to love somebody whole
The sound of his name rocked me like a jungle in my soul

I'm just a girl who wants to have fun
You shined on my world like a burning sun

Life is a scream I cling to this dream
Venus is breaking in me

I kick the sand, get drunk again
I slap my hand, I'm in love with this man

And I feel so lame for getting sucked in this deep
You're a quagmire baby and you make me feel so cheap

You shined n my world like a burning sun
Well I could have sworn that you were the one

Life is a scream, I cling to this dream
Venus is breaking in me (she's breaking inside me)
Life is a scream, I cling to this dream
My love was the real thing

I paid this price one time before
My friends say he ain't worth it, but I'd pay even more

Venus is breaking inside of me
She dreams of a life that'll never be

Repeat chorus 



11: Newspaper Wife
------------------
Sitting here in this dirty bar
Watching the trash go by
She's selling cigarettes and lollipops
She's got a sparkle in her black eye

She says "Maybe my time will come"
Maybe my time will come

He said he'd sweep her off her feet
Defying all of gravity
Well she'd move any bright city
To fill this gaping cavity... she says

I'm a slave in this empty life
Diggin' my grave I'm his newspaper wife

Well he must have a very small broom
As she sits in this very large room
Maybe it's just a piece of straw
She says why am I so in awe?

Chorus
I'm a slave to this empty life
Diggin' my grave I'm his newspaper wife
I'm ashamed of this meaningless life
Diggin' my grave I'm his newspaper wife

She sits across from him
Drinking her coffee
His face is buried in other people's lives, she says
"I wonder if he's gonna read forever
I'm his newspaper wife

Repeat Chorus 



12: Soothe Me
-------------
Maybe I should wander
Through these streets a little longer
Hey New York City
Won't you welcome me back home?
And darling I love you
But I swear that I'll be gone
By the time you figure out what you want

Maybe I should wander
Through my solitude a little longer
Turn your head now sailor
Well I used to be so much stronger
How in the hell did I get here?
In this city so alone
Oh sometimes life seems so long

Chorus
You can't soothe me with your sweet voice
If I can't be your first choice
You can't soothe me with your deep eyes
If I can't be your first prize
You can't soothe me with affection
If it's pointed in the wrong direction
Unless you think I'm perfection
Unless you think I'm perfection

Maybe I should wander
Through these streets a little longer
Find my ruthless angel
That will carry me back home
Cause we all wanna go home
And we search for love our whole lives
I found a man who only wants to be alone

Repeat Chorus

Maybe down the road who knows?
You'll get it together
With all your charm my hope grows
It's wonderful
But you're flirting only as a friend
You touch my heart
And promise everything

It'll be a mighty cold winter
Five million people
Couldn't one of them be you?
And darling I love you
But I swear that I'll be gone
By the time you figure out
What you want

Repeat Chorus 



13: Souvenir
------------
Sure as the breeze
There is no mistaking these
These are days in a life of passion
Watch over me for eternity
And I will smile till my heart stops beating
All my worries disappear
Your words are like a Souvenir
Of love in a life of passion
Days in a life of passion 
