if you want something to play with, go and find yourself a toy.

nina simone singing "my father." the original's by judy collins narrating how she ended up following her dreams in paris. this particular version though seems to be a barb on behalf of the civil rights movement.

my father always promised me that we would live in france. (you know you don't believe that)
we'd go boating in the seine, and i would learn to dance
we lived in ohio and he worked in the mines...
i don't want to sing this song. it's not me.
my father always promised me that we would be free but he never promised me that we would live in france.

producer: how about brooklyn?

no, my father knew nothing about brooklyn.
my father said we would live in "peace"
and that maybe i can still get
ok. we have to skip that one.

~~~~
a few stanzas from suzanne, leonard cohen

Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them"
But he himself was broken
Long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human
He sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him
And you want to travel blind
Cos' you think maybe you can trust him
He's touched your perfect body
with his mind.

Now Suzanne takes your hand
And she leads you to the river (promised land)
She is wearing rags and feathers
From Salvation Army counters
And the sun pours down like honey
On our lady of the harbour
And she shows you where to look
Among the garbage and the flowers
There are heroes in the seaweed
There are children in the morning
They are leaning out for love
And they will lean that way forever
While Suzanne holds the mirror

Suzanne takes you down to
her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China
And just when you mean to tell her
That you have no love to give her
Then she gets you on her wavelength
And she lets the river answer
That you've always been her lover