Ah… memory. Frail sibling of the dream, grandchild of illusion.
Don’t ask me how I ended up doing this twice in three weeks… I had my mind on other, thoroughly mundane things like trying to make a living, mastering evolving toolsets, and meeting yeterday’s challenges tomorrow… or something like that. It’s not all a blur but I kind of wish it was.
Anyhow, this seems to be a better version in some ways, though both are painfully sloppy (yeah, like that makes them stand out, here) and both are far from living up to the song’s potential. It’s this damn heat and humidity… it sits on the brain like a hot, steamy fog…
Internet Archive page for this recording
July 2 version
January 1 version
‘songwriter demo version‘ [soundclick page]
Just Like a China Doll
She’s got eyes
just like a china doll
They look painted on
and yet they’ve seen it all
All around Long Beach
and all the way to LA
the shattered lives are scattered
the hearts are spiked up on staves
— From the Ocean to the mountains
from the birthplace to the grave
Once you behold her
nothing will ever be the same
She’s got eyes
just like a china doll
They look painted on
and yet they’ve seen it all
Everywhere you go
everythings about the same
they wander around dazed
just barely whispering her name
— They walk in front of buses
they throw themselves under trains
but the sick smile on their faces
show those sorry saps are still glad she came
[bridge]
well I looked into her eyes
and I saw my life flash by
Now I wake up screaming
everytime I see a doll’s eyes
I looked into the void
and I saw myself fall in
i see it every time
i see it in her eyes
t’s always been
Here I stand the last man to fall
under her spell
a moment close to heaven
an ice age on the cold side of hell
and how can I face
the other lost souls I find
When I laughed at all of them and then now
here am I the last in line
She’s got eyes
just like a china doll
They look painted on
and yet they’ve seen it all
(C)1997, TK Major
