"Sassy & Seductive" (DIVA Cabaret 2007) - The Lyrics

DIVA Cabaret is an annual show produced by EXIT Theatre showcasing women's creations; for 2007 it features female lyricists and singers, with music by me. Here are the eleven songs in order of their original performance:

• One-Way ATM (lyrics by Mia Paschal)
• A New Lipstick In Town (lyrics by Diane Valory)
• If I Loved You (lyrics by Mia Paschal)
• Nothing You Can Give Me (lyrics by Mia Paschal)
• Daisy Chains (lyrics by Pireeni Sundaralingam)
• Tell Me (lyrics by Mia Paschal)
• Kiss Me As If (A Bossa Nova For Christopher) (lyrics by Mia Paschal)
• Screen Play (lyrics by Pireeni Sundaralingam)
• Smooth As Glass (lyrics by Diane Valory)
• You Don't Love Me Yet (lyrics by Mia Paschal)
• Revolving Door (lyrics by Mia Paschal)

(Click here for a PDF of the show's program.)

One-Way ATM

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Mia Paschal

I'm a one-way ATM machine
I may be short but I'm lean
you're going to pay and pay and pay and pay
for all the things I've seen

for every man who's slept in my bed
never leaving a quarter behind
for every man who's messed with my head
and left me with trouble in mind

you're going to pay
yeah
you're going to pay
and when I'm done with you
you're going to wish you knew how to pray

for the man who ate all my food
and didn't pay one thin dime
for the man who ruined my good mood
when I was having a grand old time

for the man who did the same things
in and out of bed
for the man who wined and lied to me
and tried to beat me upside the head

(yeah I said tried)

you're going to pay
yeah
you're going to pay
and when I'm done with you
you're going to wish you knew how to pray

because

I'm a one-way ATM machine
I may be short but I'm lean
you're going to pay and pay and pay
for all the things I've seen

and when I'm done with you
you're going to wish you knew how to pray

A New Lipstick In Town

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Diane Valory

Well, it shines and sparkles
With a creaminess,
And its wetness is second to none.
Yeah, it glows like orchids.
Tastes like daiquiris.
It was made for fun.

Chorus:
Theres a new lipstick in town.
There's a new lipstick in town.
It glides on with ease.
It's sure to please.
There's a new lipstick in town.

It will draw you in
Like a honeybee
With a fragrance no one can resist.
When you're in its power,
Like a flower,
You know you'll be kissed.

Chorus

Watermelon,
Lemonade.
Pick a flavor,
Choose your shade.

Chorus

If I Loved You

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Mia Paschal

memory persists and pain insists
and vodka doesn't get it right
when love consists of cruel twists
why did I walk away tonight

tell me how you sleep at night
tell me what you want from life
tell me what can make you cry
tell me why you wonder why

tell me why you're all alone
tell me things that you don't know
tell me all the dreams you own
Tell me tell me tell me

Chorus:
If I loved you
If I loved you
would you stay
(if I never tried to hide again)

If I loved you
If I loved you
would you stay
(If I never made you cry again)

If I loved you
If I loved you
would you stay
(if I never told a lie again)

If I loved you
If I loved you
would you stay
(If I never said goodbye again)

pride grows strong and nights are long
and hardens a hard heart to stone
when it feels wrong just to belong
why did I leave you all alone

tell me what you need to hear
tell me what you want to feel
tell me all the things you fear
tell me what your heart conceals

tell me why this love still holds
tell me things that you don't know
tell me how your heart unfolds
Tell me tell me tell me

Chorus

memory persists and pain insists
and vodka doesn't get it right
when love consists of cruel twists
why did I walk away tonight

Nothing You Can Give Me

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Mia Paschal

the alpha and omega
are all wrapped up in me
call me selfish if you want
'cause I won't disagree

So leave me if you want to
I might cry, but not for long
It won't be the first time
something right has gone so wrong

Chorus: and
there's nothing you can give me
I can't get from someone else
I've walked this world alone
all by myself

The darkness doesn't scare me
I'm not frightened by the light
I'll tear this world apart
If it dares me to a fight

So leave me if you want to
It might hurt, but I won't die
It won't be the first time
that two wrongs don't make a right

Chorus

I've cried myself to sleep
And woke up to face the day
I've sown everything I've reaped
And kept the wolves at bay

So leave me if you want to
I might cry, but not for long
I know every letter
to every word of this song

Chorus

Daisy Chains

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Pireeni Sundaralingam

Summer is the smell
Of daisies upturned to the sun.

Smiling in the lazy grass,
They nudge their winsome friends,
Kick up their starched, white petticoats,
And giggle beneath the green.

I swear I see them wink
As they entice
The greedy hands of girls
Who delve among these blowsy blooms,
Who split these sticky stems
And thread them top-to-tail.

Such perfect bridal crowns!

those bright white teeth,
those blades of grass,
lurking in the lawn.

Summer is the smell
Of daisies upturned to the sun.

Tell Me

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Mia Paschal

Bite my ankle baby
Put my feather in your hair
Tell me that you love me
Tell me that you care

Wrap your dreams around me
Lay the blinds down low
Tell me that I've got you
Tell me that you know

Chorus: I find myself waiting
All the time for you
All my way back home
Oh it's sad but it's true
I find myself hoping
That it must be you
All my way alone
Oh it's sad but it's true

Call me from your midnight
Bring your heaving heart to me
Tell me that you miss me
Tell me that you see

All the stars are broken
And the STORMY sea is dark
Tell me that you want me
Tell me where to start

Chorus

baby please don't give up on us
don't take your love and walk away
if love can survive a promise
our hearts can survive a mistake

Bite my ankle baby
Put my feather in your hair
Tell that you love me
Tell me that you care

Kiss Me As If (A Bossa Nova For Christopher)

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Mia Paschal

there was something tender
there was maybe something true
and now within this still dark night
my heart is turned to you

your eyes of breaking blue
my heart braced against a wall
lonely but not alone we were
I knew that we would fall

Chorus:
you said
kiss me as if
you said
and I kissed you as if
I did

the saddest boy and me
unsure where to begin
you asked if I could take you home
a sea of love within

full moonlight filled our hearts
then the sunlight filled our eyes
and I never had a single doubt
that this was something right

Chorus

I kissed you as if the night would never end
I kissed you as if this day would never come
I kissed you as if our hearts were truly one
I kissed you as if our hearts had found a home

darling I would tell you
it's something you should know
the true and unveiled grace of love
is somewhere we could go

you were someone tender
you were maybe someone true
that long night not so long ago
how far away are you

Chorus

I kissed you as if the night would never end
I kissed you as if this day would never come
I kissed you as if our love was truly one
I kissed you as if our love had found a home

Chorus

Screen Play

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Pireeni Sundaralingam

Or will your eyes slide shut, my love,
blank screens for home-movies
that flicker in the dark?

It was another rainy night in San Francisco. The streetlights coming through my office blinds picked out the small brunette. She was quite a doll. Thin but with enough to grab onto and an attitude that was nine parts sass and one part seduction. I've been in this business a longtime but this dame was different.

"I'm in trouble, big trouble," she said. I lit a cigarette and watched her cross her legs. "Take a look at that," she snapped, tossing me a manila envelope, "and stop looking at my legs."

"The cops want me for murder," she said, "and that's the gal I'm supposed to have bumped off."

I opened the envelope. It contained an old dime store photograph. It was a photograph of her.

And your eyes, my friend,
Who do they see in the silence of our room?
We are creatures of light and dark, my love,
shadows and half-made dreams.
We are no more than canvas, clay,
soft curves distorting beneath the gaze.

Then the lightning struck again, illuminating the damp, stone walls and the heavy, iron-studded door. Outside, I could hear the village mob clamoring for my blood.

But she would be mine! So many women used and discarded, so many years of selection, as I assembled my perfect bride. Breasts that swelled with ripeness, limbs that went on till dawn ... Gold hair from the blacksmith's daughter, green eyes from the mayor's wife. At last, the perfect woman! And mine to do with as I wished!

I heard the electric charge crackle through her body as I threw the final switch.

Shedding my clothes, I discard my daytime life,
Step up, step out and shine in the spotlight of your gaze.
Here, I begin again,
caught in the blank sheets of your bed.

Who braves the bedroom door, leaves everything behind.

Seated in the cool shade of her plantation porch, she made a pretty picture. Her new green flowered-muslin gown spread its twenty-six yards of billowing material over her hoops and crinolines and set off to perfection her five-inch waist, the smallest in three counties. But for all the modesty of her spreading skirts, the quietness of the small, white fan folded in her lap, her true self was poorly concealed.

"It's war, sure enough," she said, striking a large, brown match. And with that, she touched the fire to my dog-eared manuscript and laughed as my screenplay went up in smoke.

"But what now?" I wailed, "What will I do without you or my stories?"

Her dark eyes flashed briefly as she spat, "Well.... You can always rely on the kindness of strangers."

Smooth As Glass

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Diane Valory

First big date
A new man
Legs as smooth as glass
Will be my plan

He speaks softly
His eyes shine sweet
I hope to knock him
Off his feet

*Chorus:*
No expectations
No demands
No delay
I ask my muses
To guide me
With my plan
To make this play

My velvet dress
I can't lose
Not with this
Brand new pair of
Patent leather shoes

And the stockings
As soft as mist
I'll shyly smile
When all the while
I'm waiting to be kissed

Chorus

You Don't Love Me Yet

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Mia Paschal

moonlight long behind me and so here I am again
drowning in tequila and the eyes of dream-wrecked men
a train cuts through the city, its whistle blowing far
silence melts and sharpens the light behind the bar

faces fade away, now tangled voices in their wake
praying that the sunlight will erase my last mistake
bitter laughter suits you and the darkness even more
turning round to kiss me in the shelter of the door

Chorus:
it may never happen but for a moment yes it was
revolving round each other for a moment just because
you don't love me yet and yet you love me still
you don't love me yet maybe you never will

caught within the thorned walls of desire and distaste
crushing darkened memories to impale our hearts in place
night gave voice to small truths, blind and silent in the day
and sunlight finds us tangled in a sleep-enveiled embrace

stranger hands have held me and much kinder lies were told
kinder hands will hurt me and much stranger truths unfold
drowning in dark memories of all the men before
and the train rides on; its dying song cuts me to the core

Chorus

stranger hands have held me and much kinder lies were told
kinder hands will hurt me and much stranger truths unfold
drowning in dark memories of all the men before
and the train rides on; its dying song strands me here once more

Revolving Door

Lyrics copyright (C) 2007 Mia Paschal

these guys make my head spin
don't know where to go
they do it cause I let them
revolving door

A for the asshole who wouldn't let me sleep
B for the bald man who loved to kiss my feet
C for the con man who left me in the red
D for the dealer who thought I'd give him head
E for the neighbor who eyed me down the hall
F the 6 foot fool too afraid to fall

every time I turn around I turn around I turn round and round
every time I turn around I turn around I turn round and round

G for the guys who thought I was their mom
H for the he-man who couldn't make me come
I for the ingrate I brought into my bed
J for the jerk I thought I was to wed
K the cuckoo stalker who hung around my door
L the all-time loser I got caller ID for

every time I turn around I turn around I turn round and round
every time I turn around I turn around I turn round and round

M for the mama's boy who couldn't quite commit
N for the Nebraska man a thirteen-time convict
O for the outre one who called me just to cry
P for the prick who texted me goodbye
Q the metrosexual who used my best shampoo
R for the redneck who couldn't do the do

every time I turn around I turn around I turn round and round
every time I turn around I turn around I turn round and round

S for the smooth man who fooled me with his lies
T for the trickster who mixed his alibis
U the uptown boy I caught with my best friend
V for the virgin who had the hots for men
W the wimp who stood me up one night
X for the sadist who tied me up too tight
Y for all the whys I had to ask myself
Z for all the zeroes I put back on the shelf

these guys make my head spin
don't know where to go
they do it cause I let them
revolving door

every time I turn around I turn around I turn round and round
every time I turn around I turn around I turn round and round