Day 6: Kalamazoo

“When you met me, you told me you were cruel, but I thought I saw a glimmer in your eye”

When I think about “Kalamazoo”, I think about dancing. Dancing like with my friend Caroline at Play drag bar in Nashville, one of my sweetest memories from my very brief stint with college. As I think about the anti-trans/drag bills that have come up in Tennessee, I’ve been thinking a lot about how special those nights were, and how special that place/those performers are.

I think about dancing after every show on my first tour, when my guitarist Jaime and I made it our personal mission to teach anybody in our vicinity how to salsa.

Or most recently, I think about one night early in my relationship with my wonderful partner Henry, when we dressed up and went dancing at the Pyramid Club off Avenue A in the East Village. It was exclusively 80s songs, and a mostly empty dance floor, and it felt incredibly sparkly and magical. We had no idea the legendary NY spot would close its doors only a few weeks later; that this night existed on a page already turning.

Studio bts

Here’s today’s bit of a behind the scenes from the recording sessions at Plyrz Studios.

“Kalamazoo”

I can’t keep living in this two-bit city

Pretty baby, something’s gotta give

You treat me like a queen, then you up and you leave

And now I think I’m going out of my wits

When you met me you told me you were cruel

But I thought I saw a glimmer in your eye

Oh, this rambler’s got me fooled

Deaf, dumb and blind

Why you gotta go and leave me in my blues

I wanna run all the way to Kalamazoo

I wanna shoop, shoop, baby, break your heart in two

I wanna run all the way to Kalamazoo, oh yeah

Since I was younger, I’ve had this hunger

For things that won’t serve me right

And though I tried to be sweet, I knew deep inside of me

That I should’ve given up the fight

But when you kissed me goodnight, thought you were true

So I ignored the warning signs

And now that I’ve met you

There’s no peace of mind

Why you gotta go and leave me in my blues

I wanna run all the way to Kalamazoo

I wanna shoop, shoop, baby, break your heart in two

I wanna run all the way to Kalamazoo

Why you gotta go and leave me in my blues

I wanna run all the way to Kalamazoo

I wanna shoop, shoop, baby, break your heart in two

I wanna run, wanna run to Kalamazoozoozoozoo

Baby, why’d you have to leave me in my blues

I wanna run all the way to Kalamazoo

I wanna shoop, shoop, baby, break your heart in two

I wanna run all the way to Kalamazoo, ooh

Lyrics

The Acoustic Version

Found nowhere else but here. An acoustic version, performed specially for you.