Sunday, November 19, 2006

Pass the gravy, pass the buck

Between the years I first heard Secrets and Lies at the undergraduate radio station and when I finally found a copy of the song, I always remembered it as a Thanksgiving song. Yes, gravy can do that sort of thing to a person.

The song appeared on one of our weekly preview discs and was played a few times before it probably got lost in the on-going shuffle of music choices. Regulated only to the first three hours (the Triple-A vs. pop fare) of our nine hours of modern rock music, looking back I sort of wish I caught it and included it on our weekend morning folk program where it would have been book-ended by similar-sounding music. Perhaps if our entire broadcast day was given over to this format of music – rather than splintered between classical, modern rock, jazz, hip-hop and so on – the song might have had a better chance and been more memorable. It may not have been that memorable to others during the rock format, hence why it was probably all but forgotten, but I distinctly recall taking immediate notice – there was something catchy and hook-laden about that chorus. At the time I didn't pay close enough attention. It wasn't until I had graduated and thinking of songs that the strange holiday-themed lyric pestered me. What was it? Finally, years later the truth was revealed: Jonatha Brooke.

By the time I heard of Brooke, she'd been touring the music world for at least a decade, first as part of the duo the Stories and then heading out on her own. Her most recent album was released in 2004.

Gravy. Go figure.

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Secrets and Lies
(Brooke)
Jonatha Brooke
From the album 10 Cent Wings
1997

Every twenty seconds someone's pounding someone down
Every thirty more a liar's born
Every half an hour I get up and look around
And once or twice a day I ask for more

On a really good day there's something in the mail
Once a week I get a treat
Other times a month goes by
But I still mever miss a beat

Get it on the table, pass the gravy, pass the buck
Get it on the table, secrets and lies
Silence, faith, and luck

Once a year the holidays come swinging at your head
Feast until you're full of pain again
It tightens in your chest and now it's written in your face
You're staring at your lover or your friend

Get it on the table, pass the gravy, pass the buck
Get it on the table, secrets and lies
Silence, faith, and luck

Cuz it's hand to mouth, door to door, cradle to the grave
Asking for more, asking for more
Cuz it's hand to mouth, door to door, cradle to the grave
Asking for more, asking for more, I'm asking for more

Maybe if you're lucky you will have your sunny day
Once in a lifetime maybe twice
But even when you're dying you're still hungry for the choice
Was chance the only certainty in life?

Get it on the table, pass the gravy, pass the buck
Get it on the table, secrets and lies
Silence, faith, and luck
Get it on the table, pass the gravy, pass the buck
Get it on the table, secrets and lies
Silence, faith, and luck