Sounds

Six songs

Songs by Frank Gray

Words by Frank Gray. Free to play here, the words beneath each one.

Download all six · $4.99

1. Same Time Tomorrow2:58

   The dishes in the sink can soak till Sunday.
   The phone can ring itself to sleep.
   Porch light on. Lamp turned low.
   You say the word, and the day lets go.

   Same time tomorrow.
   It’s the only promise I know how to keep.
   You, and me, and the lamp turned low.
   Same time tomorrow. Then sleep.

   Some nights it’s a river. Some nights it’s a sip.
   Some nights it’s your heartbeat, my cheek, and the weight of your hip.
   I’m not here for the harvest. I’m here for the door.
   I’m here because I was here before.

   Miss a night? Miss it. Don’t make a speech.
   The chair will keep. The lamp’s within reach.
   The body doesn’t count the nights we lost.
   It counts the ones we came back for.

   Same time tomorrow.
   It’s the only promise I know how to keep.
   You, and me, and the lamp turned low.
   Same time tomorrow. Then sleep.

   Same time tomorrow.
   Same time tomorrow.
   Then sleep.

2. A Belly Full of Cosmos2:54

   They told me milk was for the little ones.
   I’m six foot one with a lamp and a ledger,
   and I’m telling you, darling, it’s sweeter
   than anything they let the little ones have.
   Warm as the inside of a word.

   Fill me up with the quiet.
   A belly full of cosmos,
   every star you’ve got.
   Fill me up with the sweet.
   A belly full of cosmos,
   and I’m sleeping like a planet in your lap.

   You hum when it comes. You don’t know you do.
   I know the tune by now; I could set the clock by it.
   The room goes soft at the edges,
   and I’m not a man anymore. I’m weather.

   Don’t tell the astronomers. They’d want to know how.
   There’s no how. There’s your hand in my hair,
   and the slow sure river, and the dark,
   and the dark is kind.

   Fill me up with the quiet.
   A belly full of cosmos,
   every star you’ve got.
   Fill me up with the sweet.
   A belly full of cosmos,
   and I’m sleeping like a planet in your lap.

   Fill me up.
   A belly full of cosmos.
   Good night. Good night.

3. The Lowdown2:59

   First time, I had the angle wrong.
   You laughed so hard the cat left.
   Second time, I held my breath like a man underwater,
   and you said, “Breathe, you beautiful idiot. I’m not going anywhere.”

   Give me the lowdown.
   The low, and the slow, and the down.
   Chin up, mouth wide, nose free, no hurry:
   the only exam I ever wanted to pass.
   Give me the lowdown,
   and let me latch.

   Pillow under the elbow. Pillow under the knee.
   We built a fort for a thing that takes two.
   Then the lamp. Then the quiet. Then the sweet.
   Then you humming, which you say you don’t do.

   I came in like a retriever.
   You taught me to arrive like a cat.
   Somewhere between the two
   is the best thing I’ll do all week.

   Give me the lowdown.
   The low, and the slow, and the down.
   Chin up, mouth wide, nose free, no hurry:
   the only exam I ever wanted to pass.
   Give me the lowdown,
   and let me latch.

   Chin up. Mouth wide. There.
   See? You can be taught.

4. Nothing to Do Tonight (But You)2:53

   Rain on the gutter. Nothing on the stove.
   The day packed its bag and left without a fight.
   Dry night, they call it. I call it Tuesday.
   Nothing to do tonight but you.

   Nothing’s coming. Nothing’s due.
   Nothing to prove and nothing to do.
   Nothing to do tonight but you.
   (Milk’s just a bonus. You’re the view.)

   Your skin’s the warmest thing in the county.
   My ear on your chest, I can hear the county turn.
   No milk, no matter. The sweet’s still here.
   It was living in you all along.

   Some nights the river. Some nights the shore.
   I didn’t come for the river. I came for the door.
   And the door’s open, and the lamp’s on,
   and there’s nothing to do tonight but you.

   Nothing’s coming. Nothing’s due.
   Nothing to prove and nothing to do.
   Nothing to do tonight but you.
   (Milk’s just a bonus. You’re the view.)

   Nothing to do tonight.
   Nothing to do tonight.
   But you.

5. Say It Low2:56

   Come closer. No. Closer than that.
   I’ve got a question, and it isn’t a trick.
   Do you want this tonight? Say it low.
   Say it like the pillow’s the only one listening.

   Say it low.
   Say yes like a secret. Say stay like a prayer.
   Say slower, and I’m the slowest man alive.
   Say it low, and watch the room change its mind.

   I’ll tell you before I move. That’s my one rule.
   My hands are the only honest thing I own.
   So tell me where, and tell me how far,
   and I’ll keep the number like it’s mine.

   “Yes.” “There.” “Not yet.” “Now.”
   Four small words, and the weather turns.
   You say closer. I say how close.
   You say the number. I keep it.

   Say it low.
   Say yes like a secret. Say stay like a prayer.
   Say slower, and I’m the slowest man alive.
   Say it low, and watch the room change its mind.

   So say it.

6. The Long Letdown2:56

   You’ve been holding it a long time.
   I can see it in your shoulders,
   in the way you fold the towel like the towel might leave.
   Put it down. Put it down here.

   I don’t know how. Nobody showed me.
   Every hand that came wanted something back:
   a sigh, a number, a better face.
   What do you want?
   him Nothing. That’s the whole trick.
   Nothing but to be the floor.

   Let it down. Let it all the way down.
   The long letdown, the slow one, the one that’s yours.
   It isn’t weakness leaving. It’s weight.
   Let it down. I’ve got you. Let it down.

   It’s coming. I can feel it come,
   like a river finding out it’s a river.
   him Then let it.
   her It won’t stop.
   him It isn’t supposed to.
   Laugh. Cry. Do both. I’m not going anywhere.

   Let it down. Let it all the way down.
   The long letdown, the slow one, the one that’s yours.
   It isn’t weakness leaving. It’s weight.
   Let it down. I’ve got you. Let it down.

   him It is never the first time.
   her Then knock.
   him I’m knocking.

Download all six · $4.99