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Lyrics for songs on Sometimes I Feel Too Much and Pretty Bird can be found on Cosy's Bandcamp page. (At Bandcamp, hold your cursor over the song title and "lyrics" will appear to the right.) All songs ©Cosy Sheridan, Cosyng Music/BMI 

MY FENCE AND MY NEIGHBOR 

When the neighbors first moved in
I’m the one who built the fence
I’m the kind who can hold out her hand
if I know my line of defense 

We are living in interesting time
the sky falls every day
I used to think my fence
could make the world go away

This morning all I know 
is I want to fall down and cry 
this morning I don’t need my fence 
I need my neighbor on the other side  

I’ve seen my neighbor with her children in the morning 
driving them to school 
I’ve seen her play a game in the driveway 
she knows how to set and bend a rule 

I don’t know that much about her 
but I’ve dropped in and we’ve talked at her store 
and each time I come away 
wanting to know a little bit more  

This morning all I know 
is I want to fall down and cry 
this morning I don’t need my fence 
I need my neighbor on the other side  

I’m not the first one to a protest 
I’m the last one with a sign 
I mostly want to be left in peace 
to make my pretty designs  

I don’t know from trade agreements 
I don’t understand all I hear 
but I wasn’t certain when the neighbors moved in 
now I am glad they are here  

This morning all I know 
is I want to fall down and cry 
this morning I don’t need my fence 
I need my neighbor on the other side  

© 2017 Cosy Sheridan, Cosyng Music, BMI 

   

DON'T WALK AWAY FROM LOVE 
(CD: The Horse King) 

There's a lot to be lost in this great wide world 
Don't walk away from love 
It might not look like you planned 
your family might not understand 

Don't walk away from love 
We move around the wheel 
Up and down how we feel 
Don't walk away from love 

We are darkness, we are light 
we don't always do it right 
Don't walk away from love 

Life is often a mess 
sometimes more, sometimes less 
Don't walk away from love 
Of course there will be fears 
and problems through the years 

Don't walk away from love 
When you have found it  
work everything around it 
Don't walk away from love 

Any fortune can waver 
do yourself a favor
Don't walk away from love 

All the ways we get sick 
all the ways we get poor 
Don't walk away from love 

All the little tiny pieces 
and we don't know what they're for 
Don't walk away from love 

There are things you can't imagine 
waiting in store 
Don't walk away from love 

It's a boat across the river 
to a shining shore 
an open hand and an open door 
let go of your heart  
just a little bit more 
Don't walk away from love 
Don't walk away from love 

 © Cosy Sheridan, Cosyng Music 2011 


DO YOU LOVE THE LIFE YOU'VE MADE 
(CD: Eros) 

Smash the dishes in the kitchen 
the alter in the cage 
why not have a life that gets up off the page 
Open up your mouth 
sing your most fervent hope 
how much of your life will you stuff down your throat 

Everything unravels 
Everything will fade 
Do you love the life you've made 

It's a risk and a leap and then a hole in the net 
It's a miracle you have not given up yet 
It seems to reward arrogant fools 
It blows up in your face 
it doesn't follow the rules 

Everything unravels 
Everything will fade 
Do you love the life you've made   

Do you need a moment of rest? 
Tension holds you upright 
Tension drives this song 
All you do right 
meets all you do wrong 
All the ways we can die 
all the ways we can live 
The one wrong move 
it's a lot to forgive 

Everything unravels 
Everything will fade 
Do you love the life you've made 

© Cosy Sheridan, Cosyng Music, 2008 BMI 

******* 

THE POMEGRANATE SEED CD :: LYRICS 
words & music by Cosy Sheridan ~ ©COSY SHERIDAN / COSYNG MUSIC 

THE POMEGRANATE SEED 

I swallowed a seed in the dark long ago 
a girl who needs her mother will do anything she's told 
it was Hades, his horses', then it was my cries 
the innocent losses and the breaking of the ties 

CHORUS: 
Mother do you follow 
Mother do I lead 
Mother I have swallowed 
The pomegranate seed 

You weep when I visit for the damage that was done 
when I leave your fields in autumn, 
you're not the only weeping one 
for I can still hear that frightened young girl 
calling out for rescue from the underworld 

CHORUS 

In the darkness and the heat 
in that sacrificial deep 
he said "Open, you are the seed. 
In your mother's daylight 
there is wrong and there is right 
but here is just desire and need." 

And for all I lost I know where it all starts 
the seed finds life in the dark 

CHORUS 


DOROTHY AND EVE 

Dorothy met Eve 
at a fork in the yellow brick road 
she said, I'm going to see the Wizard 
I hear he's great. 
Eve said, I've met him 
and whatever you do 
just don't tell him what you ate. 

Dorothy asked Eve, 
Should I go left here or go right? 
Eve said, listen to my story 
before you take my advice 
I was thrown out for an 
overcurious bite 

They say I have a dangerous appetite. 
But what I learned from the apple I ate 
is there might be innocence 
but there are no mistakes 
There's always a safe easy thing to believe 
so question what you find 
behind the curtain, Dorothy. 

Dorothy said, I'm just looking for a happy ending. 
Eve said, Hollywood was always good at pretending 
but when the movie is over 
and Dorothy you disappear 
Judy Garland will be left with all of her fears. 

Poor Judy her happy endings 
they were riddled with doubt 
she ate the wrong thing 
and she got thrown out 
The end of the rainbow had nowhere to hide 
Judy looked behind the curtain 
and she did not survive.  
 

THE LITTLE TRAIN 

The little train that could was the first book they bought me 
I think I can I think I can the first words they taught me 
Carry all the people where they want to go 
Good little trains don't say no 

I think I can all the way to the top 
I think I can never says stop 
I think I can makes the wheels go round 
I think I can slow down 

How many little trains can't remember what it's for 
they climb every hill to just find one more 
it's day with no ending, it's a life that won't fit 
It's a list of things to do that just won't quit 

CHORUS 

What if God isn't watching 
What if life isn't fair 
What if I cannot get a gold star 
from the Great Out There 

The little train that could said what if I sit still 
if I do not blindly rush up every hill 
I'm not tied to the track, I'm not tied to the story 
I'm not burning out the engine 
All the way to glory 

CHORUS 

  

ALL ALONE WITH A BATHINGSUIT 

All alone in the dressing room 
I'm not having much fun 
the only consolation 
is I'm probably not the only one 
wondering why I bother with the battle I am fighting 
the naked truth in this fluorescent lighting 
me and my affirmations, we're going to have to re-group 
why did I have to come in here and try on this bathing suit 

I felt ok until I came in here 
This body's the right size most of the year 
but now I'm looking at the picture they have on the tag 
might as well cut arm and leg holes in a paper bag 
like the cover of Cosmo and Diet Coke ad 
makes me just a little lonesome and a little mad 

I gave myself a pep talk the other night 
I said it's just a bathing suit, you will be alright 
all the things I like about who I have become 
in this dressing room I can't remember a single one 
cause I am all alone with this bathing suit 

You would think that a woman of my intelligence and age 
could summon up a little self-righteous shopper's rage 
but as I lose the will to live in front of the mirror 
all the ways they have me hooked become clearer and clearer 
and if I follow my thought down to the root 

it doesn't have much to do with this bathing suit  


BARBIE 

Dear Mattel, I'm writing you this letter 
I have some ideas on how to make Barbie better 
so in this envelope I have enclosed a list 
on how to make Barbie more like women who really exist 

So let's make a Barbie who always has to pee 
with a body succumbing to gravity 
let's give her some problems with water retention 
and fantasies she will not mention 

Some facial hair and sensible shoes 
and feet big enough she could really use 
you built Barbie a front end 
that's really quite impressive 
but it's hard to think of nursing 
with something so aggressive 

And while we're on the subject 
who could ever pretend 
there's anything natural 
about Barbie rear end 

The kids are going to ask 
sooner or later 
so let's give Barbie her own vibrator 
let's be compassionate, let's be realistic 
whoever made Ken was a little sadistic 

Dear Mattel, 
you made Barbie an impressive sight 
but if those proportions were real 
she couldn't walk upright 
she'd be crawling on her hands and knees 
is it really so demanding 
to want a role model who is capable of standing. 


IPHIGENIA 

When I was 15, 65 pounds is all I weighed 
my religion was 500 calories a day 
Me and my friends we started a webpage 
there's a picture you can see every bone in my ribcage 

We called it the fight club 
welcome to our fast 
starvation the sensation that will last 
we read the magazines where the teens can learn how 
I wonder if they care where I am now 

CHORUS: 
I am Iphigenia, the daughter you lost 
for all you earned, I am the cost 
Ruling the world has a very high price 
I am Iphigenia, the sacrifice 

They say if I get better, I can go home soon 
my mother reads me stories in my hospital room 
about goddesses and girls who can fly 
I heard her tell my father, 'What do we do if she dies?' 

We read about the Trojan War last night 
Iphigenia, killed by her father so his army would fight 
she died so they could sail off to his war 
another girl who learned what her country wanted her for 

CHORUS 

She died so the big boys could win 
sacrificed for a good westerly wind 
someone got rich telling me to get thin 
just looks like a different war from this bed I'm in 

CHORUS 


CORDELIA 

I was Cordelia, before I died 
I was the apple of my father's eye 
The jewel of his kingdom 
damn my truth and my pride 
I was Cordelia, if only I'd lied.

I was Cordelia, the daughter of the King 
if I'd done what he wanted, I'd still have everything 
but love was very black and white 
in my innocence of youth 
I was a loaded weapon in the service of truth. 

I was Cordelia, I thought I did right 
but I sent my father off into a long dark night 
If I'd been the good daughter, if I'd played the right part 
you can bring down a kingdom with one honest heart. 

If only the future held nothing to fear 
if only love was always kind 
and the truth was always clear 
if only we could tell them just what they want to hear 
I was Cordelia, the daughter of Lear. 


THE LOSING GAME 

I was raised with the tv on 
on young long lean and blonde 
beauty queens with high heels 
you've come a long way baby, how does it feel 
are you proud to be living in the USA 
nothing beats a great pair of legs 
Be all you can be, don't be more than an 8 
stretch yourself out, you're not the right shape 

You're a little bit bigger, you could be smaller, 
you could be thinner if you could get taller 
just a little less, make you a little more 
give you that little look they're looking for 
if you go out where they say go in 
it's a losing game you don't want to win 

Little girls counting calories 
want to look like the ladies they see on tv 
you never know what your nature intended 
your natural shape has been suspended 
by diet soda and Dexatrim 
makes your hair fall out but at least you're thin 
what ever happened to a feminine line 
came between you and your Calvin Klein’s 

CHORUS 

So say goodbye to the hourglass shape 
full figure girls you're all out of shape 
I have learned not to care what the pictures say 
I was born with this body it won't go away 
I don't need a diet, I would need a machine 
to look like the women in those magazines 
no one ever called me skin and bones 
I'm not a frame, I'm a finished home 


DEMETER'S LOST DAUGHTER 

Follow me down to the River Styx 
Look deep into the water 
when Persephone appears on the riverbank 
tell her, I am another lost daughter. 

Tell her, my life never looked anything like my mother's 
I never fit into the tribe 
I have come down to ask the underworld 
how to be more alive 

CHORUS: 
I think I found the answer 
it's a bit of a surprise 
we are blessed when we are fallen 
we don't always have to rise 

I'll be the queen of the bump in the road 
of the heroes who never win 
I'll be proud to be called a woman with a belly 
she is not holding in 

There's a certain sense of freedom 
in a total loss of hope 
you can miss a lot when you tie a knot 
in the end of every rope. 

CHORUS 


THE UNDERWORLD 

It's a long way in, a long way down 
there's a lot of loss, before the found 
There's a softest side to the hardest part 
there's a reason the world cuts a hole in your heart 

CHORUS: 
The heroes have always been wounded 
and the wounded have always known 
we are always arriving  
and always leaving home 

At the bottom of the wheel 
on the floor of the world 
is the place where pain 
is made into pearl 

It's a long way in, a long way down 
there's a lot of loss, before the found 
There's a softest side to the hardest part 
there's a reason the world cuts a hole in your heart 


SHARP OBJECTS 

I got something I don't think I deserve 
it came up from behind in the big wide world 
little girls are made of sugar and spice 
and other things that aren't very nice 

It's got me frightened can you hear I'm scared 
I wonder if God's out to get me 
I'd believe the world is a random thing 
but whoever's in charge won't let me 

CHORUS: 
And the damage is done, mama won't you cry 
tell your little girl it's gonna be all right 
put a good word in God's ear 
He left a lot of sharp objects down here 

I found a little pink rock in the desert last year 
it looked like nothing else out there 
I thought that it might be a very good sign 
little pink rocks don't chase off what sneaks up from behind 

We need a childproof cap on the big wide world 
don't sell it to minors, or nice little girls 
should be a very hard place to get in 
step on a mine, you can't go home again 

There are moments I've waged, those I've won 
I fight my own battles if I know they've begun 
I didn't think I slept on a battle ground 
candy from strangers, mama, look what I found 
and if little girls are made of sugar and spice 
I'm made of other things now they aren't very nice 

CHORUS 


BAD CLICHÉ 

I have an uncle, he's a dirty old man 
I grew up with a bad cliché 
I have learned to find other things to do 
on family holidays. 

I have tried to love the sinner 
and only hate the sin. 
But whoever wrote that never got caught 
in a dark corner with him. 

I keep a baseball bat under my bed 
and I always leave on a light 
The same time each year 
I get up and check the locks 
sometimes three times at night. 

And if God helps those who help themselves 
where was God in my formative years 
Why give me a voice to call out with 
and then deafen so many ears? 

I have tried to forget his breath 
I have tried to forget his hands 
The mechanics don't confuse me like they used to 
But I still don't understand 

The 9 year old she was frightened 
the 12 year old learned not to care 
stick a sharp thin knife long into her heart 
she could not even feel it was there 

and there's a patch of skin between my shoulder blades 
it's still just a little bit numb 
it seems to be there to remind me 
of the destruction I have undone 

I try to love the sinner 
but it's more than the sin will allow 
I look a long time into the dark 
hoping the truth will show me how 


SURVIVOR 

I called myself survivor 
I stitched it on my sleeve 
my shield against those 
who did not believe 

it was my trumpet and my standard 
my battle cry 
as I led the army of truth 
against the army of the lie 

I called myself survivor 
my first and last name 
from the sharper edge of history 
I was Abel coming back for Cain 

I called myself survivor 
but I did more than just not die 
maybe the ashes made the phoenix 
maybe the fall brings the rise 

I have seen stars at midnight 
I have heard the birds at dawn 
in all of our surviving 
beauty goes on and on. 


A FLOWER FROM INSIDE EDEN 

Send me a flower from inside Eden 
I once walked that happy field 
my life is nothing like I intended 
who knows what the seed will yield 
a flower from Eden's field 

If you'd asked the child I once was 
what she would not become 
she would tell you the tale of all the things 
that since that day I have done 
what the seed has become 

Young maiden they'll tell you 
to build your nest 
at the top of a very tall tree 
but the wind will blow 
and you'll fall below 
to live in the roots like me 
in the dark, where the blind can see 

Send me a flower from inside Eden 
I once walked that happy field. 


MY MOTHER’S HOUSE 

In my mother's house 
there are flowers 
fountains and gold 
In my mother's house 
there is every 
fairytale ever told 

In my mother's house 
there is beauty 
in the sudden summer storm 
In my mother's house 
there is love in all its wonder taking form. 

In my mother's house 
are fields of plenty 
in the fall it's like they're all on fire 
In my mother's house 
there are soft beds 
to rest on when you're tired 

In my mother's house 
the winters are quiet 
in the silence hear the falling snow 
In my mother's house 
there's a time to arrive 
and a time to go. 

In my mother's house 
are ancient trees 
and baby birds in the nest 
In my mother's house 
there's a time to gather 
and a time to rest 

In my mother's house 
are hunters and hurricanes 
and everything can die 
In my mother's house 
there is heartbreak waiting 
and no one really knows why. 

In my mother's house 
there is beauty 
breaking in the storm 
In my mother's house 
there is love in all its wonder taking form. 


YOU CAN ALWAYS GO HOME 

I went down to the roots of a tree 
where I have lately gone searching for home 
Down a spiraling stair, a dark cave at the bottom 
where the truth is sometimes shown. 
The room was filled with raging women 
ten feet tall with snakes in their hair 
unconscious, unlovely, unholy, 
the Furies, the goddesses of nightmare. 

I remembered them from the fortune cards 
that were a gift from my sister Athene 
Long ago I let someone else 
tell me what my life means. 
The Furies they came to torment me 
for the hope I let die 
Your fate is just your destiny when you do not try. 

So I look into the Furies fiery eyes 
and I ask them "What are your demands?" 
that's when I notice they're just puppets on strings 
held by a woman's two hands 
She'd been standing there waiting 
in her dress that glittered and her silver crown that shined 
I said "What are you doing here?" 
she said "I've been here, behind the Furies all the time. 

And the lions, the tigers and the bears, 
they don't always look the same. 
And there's more ways over the rainbow 
than just sorrow, loss and pain. 
I'm just here to remind you of what you've always known 
Remember what I told Dorothy: 
You can always go home."