The Selfish Sister

Hello Lisbon! I'm here to go on a little musical adventure and do a week long songwriting workshop with Tillery in the Centro Cultural de Belém. Tillery is the collective noun for a gaggle of songwriters (namely Becca Stevens, Gretchen Parlato and Rebecca Martin) and if you haven't heard of them well have a listen to this little chunk of beauty right here:  

So there I am last night in my room after a long day of being a tourist (the workshop doesn't start till tomorrow morning so plenty of time for sightseeing!) and I kept getting interrupted by cockroaches. Now listen here, I know cockroaches aren't that big a deal, that they're a fact of life in lots of warm countries but I don't care...we don't have them in Ireland and as far as I'm concerned they're the grossest thing on the planet! So I decided to get out of there and go sing a new song I've written in the warm night air. 

I haven't got any high tech equipment with me so it's filmed on my phone, just out of shot is my little thumb piano. I'm growing to love that thumb piano, I tried replacing it with a shinier, fancier model but I didn't like any in the shop so I guess we're stuck with each other for now. I stayed there for a long while singing and I only got interrupted once by a police man who I was sure was gonna kick me out but instead asked if I was ok and wanted to know what my instrument was. Lovely! The song's called The Selfish Sister and I've written out the lyrics at the end of this post. 

To the right is what Mosteiro dos Jeronimos looks like during the day although this was a rare quiet moment, there's usually hundreds of people queueing outside!

Anyone want to recommend places I should check out while I'm here? On my list so far is Hot Club and Fábrica Braco de Prata. I'm open to suggestions! Answers on a postcard...or on Facebook, twitter, instagram or the comments below. 

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The Selfish Sister

Click clack throw your head back when you laugh
Tiny teeth white secrets in your mouth
Yours to keep like sweets you'll suck them dry
Dreams like secrets shatter in the light.

Tic tac little toes on little feet
Snip snap lacey fingers tracing me
Truth, a toy it's just beyond your grasp
Fumbled, crumpled chins and grazed palms.

Fairytales, make believe, stories on a shelf
Our fantasies I made them real and stole them while you slept.
*Treasure, magic, love and blame I kept them for myself
Guilt like breadcrumbs left a trail
You found me.
You found me.
You found me.
You found me. 

You'l grow up and I won't hold your hand
You won't struggle with those demons I have
Skip, trip lightly, don't step on the cracks
Eyes wide open brilliant as a lamp.
You found me.
You found me.
You found me.
You found me. 

*I flubbed this lyric a little in the video, a freudian slip I think because I'm not completely sold on it. I'll probably change it down the line.