Show Do Tell: A Reading Series & Art Review

Matt Waters
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  • MUSIC
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

Matt Waters is a singer-songwriter from New York City. His songs range from character studies of the contemporary American to intimate explorations of love. A writer of fiction, he attempts to meld the musical and literary realms through detailed lyricism. He has been particularly inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Billy Corgan, Mike Scott, Isaac Brock, David Bowie, Tupac Shakur, Elliott Smith, Patti Smith, Nicole Atkins, Damien Rice and Bruce Springsteen. As a guitar player he’s influenced by the progressions of John Lennon and George Harrison. The lyrics to his song Aurora were published in the March 2017 issue of American Songwriter Magazine. An essay about being a performance artist called A Moment of Honesty was published in Guernica in May 2016.

  1. Halloween (Album Version)

    2D AGO

    Halloween (Album Version)

    Halloween Well, they said this one’s serious And not to go outside and smoke I figured my mother wasn’t delirious So I took note Hunkered alone in the basement Watching Season 5 of Mad Men I called to make sure you were aware And to feel like you still were a friend You sounded agitated And staticky on the line I said, you didn’t let that stupid bastard Talk you into giving him a ride Chorus There’s always tomorrow Until there isn’t There’s always the light of lightening in a storm There’s always tomorrow until there isn’t I will love you Forevermore Now the storm touched down Knocked the crown off Kings Point Down in Ozone you could drown In Whitestone I ashed my joint If I’d known we’d split I’d have never introduced you to my mom If she knew you revenge cheated She might not care if you were harmed Yet it gave me a twinge Remembering your Winehouse eyelids Glittering in the streetlight that night We joked about having kids Chorus I hear the rain hard while Pacing from the boiler to my couch Even after the texts with the threats It’s you I still can’t live without So I raced up the stairs, put on my Yankees hat And grabbed the keys Planning to find you To explain what state of emergency means But my father grabbed me with half-my-shoulder Out the door And was already pulling me back inside before I even answered when he asked, “what the hell are you leaving for?” Chorus Well, two days later And it was Halloween I saw some little girl walking around a fallen tree And she was dressed like a Disney queen I didn’t feel nothing While walking through our little shattered town I couldn’t lose this shining vision of you Wearing a white wedding gown It was all my goddamn fault I grew up getting called ugly I couldn’t stop myself from wanting someone else Even when I knew you loved me I heard he wanted cigarettes The kindergarten teacher called him dim The priest said nothing about his sins Nobody wanted to blame him Chorus Nowadays I can't sleep These ghosts in my head Project in black-and-white Above my childhood bed I’ve never really stopped taking That first walk right after the storm I’ve never wanted to mend the Threads of our life together that were torn They say I make you a saint Because I block your flaws out of my mind They tell me it’s only natural for people to heal When they’ve had enough time Chorus

    6 min
  2. Chimney -- Album Version

    MAR 8

    Chimney -- Album Version

    The autumn twilight The masquerade The days move forward Thoughtless cadets on parade Do I feel more afraid? Than what I used to be? Of being somebody, or nobody A fading glint Took me for a walk I buttoned my coat Though you wanted to talk With your dissolvable salt I know you didn’t mean to You’re just telling the truth The faces of strangers The indifference of a moment A neighborhood renting Because they can’t own it With their inevitable sin and uncertain atonement The motorcyclist makes a delivery Beside the lawn with a smoking chimney Chimney, has a memory Of the way things were supposed to be Chimney, lighting up in the dying heat With almond eyes set beside crow’s feet The evening animates In sashaying wind It could be leading me further out Or right back in To yesterday’s hobgoblin Everyone’s smarter than me Monuments to efficiency And I’m walking in a circle To find my way home Dimming those palaces in my mind Where the light relentlessly shone Upon pillars of stone Crumbling to dust in the present Eventually preserved in a dangling pendant When I’m a few blocks away It kicks back to sense Some ideas fade Love is permanent For a sense of recompense Then Chimney coughs and returns inside Is she thinking about the one she left behind?

    4 min
  3. Moonlight Sonata -- Fall

    MAR 8

    Moonlight Sonata -- Fall

    Moonlight Sonata -- Fall by Matt Waters

    1 min
  4. Holy Summer Night

    MAR 4

    Holy Summer Night

    Holy Summer Night Somewhere between Lucky & free Off the train And on the scene The trees smile Ominously Forever We shall not be The warm wind sings Deliriously The stars are our shining Canopy Above frenetic Repartee Among unknown and Ambitious company This moment is a memory Oh, holy summer night I stay alive To feel your Plight Betwixt and between Inherited identity Surviving a strange dream Called physical reality Stay awhile With your pitbull smile We have chemistry You & me This sidewalk jewelry Broken bottled cruelty Embedded in the concrete Like a desolation courtesy Guiding us This way and thus Toward all desire’s Fait accompli This moment is a memory Chorus

    6 min
  5. At The National Show (Album Version)

    MAR 2

    At The National Show (Album Version)

    At The National Show A cloudless summer day Got off the wrong stop on the train Before the low-hanging night Was engulfed by rain I was walking through the park And the show decided to start Heard the man singing about soul And I moved nearer to take part Had ventured out solo Instead of staying home A few of my recent dates Were like talking to a stone I swear I felt you there And in my memory I see your hair Hanging off the back of a black raincoat You always say you’d never wear Isn’t it funny? How we almost met before we met That was a world ago At The National show I was so goddamn tired of being alone Aimless empire nights Patrolling shadows beneath the lights Staring into some tinted window Set at an unreachable height I emailed gibberish to my professors Because I was nobody’s successor I just couldn’t bridge that distance between Anonymous and successful It was like I could disappear Without having any there to get back here There was only rock and roll baseball To treat my lancing fear Chorus Strolling with soggy shoes Following the mid-set monsoon I was thinking about The Land of Oz And destined for my quiet bedroom It was only four more months Until I’d feel your touch Previously my love life had been like An EP release where nobody comes It was first the sound of your voice Inviting me into a choice The tone was like smoky cinnamon Incinerating every other noise I’d torn up a lottery ticket Over someone’s rude opinion I’d rather the dignity of a nobody Instead of a paid minion Chorus

    5 min
  6. Verona Revisited (Album Version)

    FEB 28

    Verona Revisited (Album Version)

    Verona Revisited I was thinking about a summer moon I was remembering the bomb in Times Square I was recalling that when I was with you I didn’t really care I was ransoming your promise I was planning out our life I never stopped to ask myself If you wanted to be my wife Bought time With a rhyme Never even tasted Your lips upon mine Swore I was fine Drinking the world But a guy can get tangled When he falls in love with a girl Those days are long ago And the city doesn’t feel the same As when I was brand-new with you Like I never had a name The bench between the avenues The movie theater underground The way you made me go in search Of some divine, secret sound Chorus Would I sound ridiculous? To admit I pictured you with gray hair Was I mistaken when I concluded You never gave a damn Hey, we were young And things get messy Deep down I knew you were Too busy to miss me Chorus Well, what could be more romantic? Two city kids in love? In the first summer of a new decade Through the eyes of a wounded dove In the flashing lights Behind the homeless man in the park The Holy Spirit doesn’t help him Nor does my broken heart

    7 min
  7. Paradigm (Album Version)

    FEB 25

    Paradigm (Album Version)

    Paradigm You’re a glistening Apparition It’s 102 by the pool And you can’t remember The last time you went to school That professor Was unsuccessful He tried inspiring through shame But his intellectual ambition Couldn’t be more lame Had a Paradigm But it all liquifies Beneath the sun You’d jot a thought If you wanted one Bought a new Bathing suit Your teacher mother died young Your salesman father loves a drink When the deal is done Empty-headed friends A means to an end Isolation can be like a blister You barely notice until you break Then you get a visit from your sister Had a Paradigm But it was blinded by the Taillights on the highway But you’re never one to heed a warning From faraway You’re just on a different wavelength Keeping those you love in true suspense Collecting bottle caps in your desk drawer Spreading glitter on the resumes Lining your bedroom floor But you’re so much wiser Than the career advisor Dawn just kissed your rusty shed In your purgatorial backyard Days of wine and stasis indefinitely extend Had a Paradigm But no one took the time To analyze the sadness In your pale, green Eyes

    4 min
  8. Scenes that are Brightest -- Summer

    FEB 23

    Scenes that are Brightest -- Summer

    Scenes that are Brightest -- Summer by Matt Waters

    1 min
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About

Matt Waters is a singer-songwriter from New York City. His songs range from character studies of the contemporary American to intimate explorations of love. A writer of fiction, he attempts to meld the musical and literary realms through detailed lyricism. He has been particularly inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Billy Corgan, Mike Scott, Isaac Brock, David Bowie, Tupac Shakur, Elliott Smith, Patti Smith, Nicole Atkins, Damien Rice and Bruce Springsteen. As a guitar player he’s influenced by the progressions of John Lennon and George Harrison. The lyrics to his song Aurora were published in the March 2017 issue of American Songwriter Magazine. An essay about being a performance artist called A Moment of Honesty was published in Guernica in May 2016.

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