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Never Argue With a Jackass

by Annie Lanzillotto

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1.
“ARE YOU GONE” lyrics & music copyright 2017 Annie Lanzillotto (8/7/2016) Are you gone – or is it me? Are you gone – how can it be? Without you – how can I talk Without you – how can I walk Without you – the world’s less bright Without you – morning is night Without you – how can I talk Without you – how can I walk This deep wound – I cannot hide A burning – abyss inside When your eyes break open my sky When blue eyes break open gray sky Like a child I cry Are you gone – how can it be? Are you gone – O is it me! Without you – how can I— Without you – how can I--  
2.
“I KNOW YOU’RE THERE” (8/6/2016) Music & Lyrics copyright 2017 Annie Lanzillotto I know you’re there You were always beside me I know you’re there Now you’re inside me I know you’re there You were always beside me I know you’re there Now you’re inside me In the whistling wind of trees I know you’re there In the butterfly—flapping breeze I know you’re there In the nectar on the flower I know you’re there In the Queen Bee walkin’ with power In the birds in the air I know you’re there In the wave of my hair I know you’re there In rain down from trees I know you’re there in the leaves wind in breeze I know you’re there In the sun bustin’ through clouds I know you’re there in the rainbows talkin so loud I know you’re there On the knock on the door I know you’re there when your picture falls to the floor In my dreams guiding me I know you’re there In the skyward bend of the tree Everytime I’m safe when I shouldnt be I know you’re there In close calls saving me from injury I know you’re there watching all I see I know you’re there in the clouds breaking free When I’m awake at night I know you’re there At eleven eleven when I turn on the light I know you’re there In the purple lilac breeze I know you’re there Shiny pennies down at my feet I know you’re there doubles rainbows stretching cross sky I know you’re there I don’t need to ask why I know you’re there in the rain tappin my shoulder I know your there in the mirror as I’m gettin older I know you’re there in the stranger being so kind I know you’re there out the corner of my eye of my eye ------------------  
3.
“WHERE WILL I GO?” (11/8/2016) If all I know is that - you’re not here tomorrow Where will I go? If all I know is that - you’re not here tomorrow Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? If all I know is that - you’re not here tomorrow Where will I go? If all I know is that - you’re not here tomorrow Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? If all I know is that - you’re not here tomorrow Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? Where O where O where O where Where O where O where Where O where O where O where Where O where O where If all I know is that - you’re not here tomorrow Where will I go? If all I know is that - you’re not here tomorrow Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? Where will I go? Where O where O where O where Where O where O where Where O where O where O where Where O where O where ------------
4.
“ORANGE AND SPICE” copyright 2017 Annie Lanzillotto Orange and spice—It’s all very lovely She sits by the fire—With the girls in her eyes Orange and spice—It’s all very lucky She sits by the fire—With the girls in her eyes I see a group—of people I tell them I don’t know you—I don’t know—what you’re talking about! “Next time they come—Go say Hi,” offers Audrey The angels keep comin—They come in and out! --- I open my eyes—I am having illusions A little girl’s standing—in front of me Do you see her?—She’s right beside you I can see her—clear as can be --- Is the girl—in a dress—asks Jessie Yes! I say Yes! I say Yes! Although I feel so cold now—I can’t help from trembling My heart falls open—just like an old rose --- Orange and spice—It’s all very lovely She sits by the fire—With the girls in her eyes Orange and spice—It’s all very lucky She sits by the fire—With the girls in her eyes --- Grandma is standing behind me with flour—behind the bed You see her Nicole? Angels are comin’—this all feels confusin’ Where is my pocketbook—Let’s go home. ---- Rosary beads and Ave Maria the baby is hungry—I forgot to feed her Am I dreaming?—The baby is screaming Who will take care of my baby for me? ----------- I wanna stand up now—What is happening to me! Who will take care of you, Annie!—— “Don’t worry bout me Ma—–you gave me everything I need” You taught me everything I need.” ----- Orange and spice—It’s all very lovely She sits by the fire—With the girls in her eyes Orange and spice—It’s all very lucky She sits by the fire—With the girls in her eyes ----- “Will I get better?” I ask Dr. Stover— she looks me in the eye most seriously “You need rest Rachel, you need rest.” Ho capito! Doctor—Capishe tutta bene. I need rest. I need rest.—Rest sounds good to me. --- DULCIMER BREAK rhythm progressing up holding down bottom strings only up up up, revving the soul up --- O! My blue pocketbook and my eyes—they won’t open The Fentanyl drips—when I push the button Thank You, I love you—I hear singing Get rid of the pocketbook—“What am I going to do with that thing?” --- Annie, I just want to stand—Can this be all? Let’s go home—and make meatballs! Who’ll take care of my baby without me— I hear Annie whisper to me: ---- acapella MAY ALL YOUR SUFFERING CEASE MAY YOUR MIND BE AT PEACE X4 ----- Orange and spice—It’s all very lovely She sits by the fire—With the girls in her eyes Orange and spice—It’s all very lucky She sits by the fire—With the girls in her eyes --- Holy water from Medjugorie a high pitched sound—and I’m on my way My blood is warm all over—as I pull away the body she stays down—but strangely I am okay --- I am a spiraling whirlwind—just like a tornado I am silvery gold light—being sucked into the galaxy Spinning so fast—with the stars as my map I hear Annie say, “Today’s your big day. Today’s your big day!” This is the week of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast. July 13th – I become an angel this day.  
5.
Breath 03:22
“BREATH” copyright 2017 Annie Lanzillotto Breath come inside me Come inside Come inside Come inside X8 Breath go outside me Go outside Go outside Go outside X8 Inside Outside Inside Outside In Out  
6.
“DEPART SOUL DEPART” Lyrics & Music copyright 12/24/2016, Annie Lanzillotto Depart Soul Depart Depart Soul Depart It’s time to rest for the heart Depart Soul Depart It’s time to rest for the heart Depart Soul Depart Fly away Fly away to the great God beyond Fly away Fly away Let us leave the body down Depart Depart Soul Depart It’s time to rest for the heart Let us lay the body down in the ground Depart Soul Depart It’s time to rest for the heart Depart Soul Depart  
7.
“LILLY O LILLY” 8/13/2016 Music and lyrics copyright 2016 Annie Lanzillotto I once had a Mamma— She was known as Sweet Lilly Prettiest girl in the Bronx As a kid she was crippled— cause she fell out a window but her soul—you know was—strong as the rocks O! It took some years—for her to learn once again how to balance on two legs and stand, O! Lilly loved music—and with rhythm inside her From that day on—you know—Lilly did dance! O Lilly O Lilly—Are you near me Sweet Lilly? Will you come for—me when I go? Lilly O Lilly—Can you hear me—Sweet Lilly? Don’tchya know that I love you so? (She gave) Kind words, and haircuts— permanents, and manicures, Lilly held everyones’ hands! While she spread beauty—she listened to everyone’s ills. Nothin’ was too hard as I held Lilly’s—soft—hand in mine! Through all of life’s hardships— no matter what—you know—Lilly’s eyes sparkled and shined. Lilly O Lilly—Are you near me Sweet Lilly? Will you come—for me when I go? Lilly O Lilly—Can you hear me Sweet Lilly? Dontchya know that—I love you so! In life we can’t save each—other from sufferin’ but we can ease—loneliness and pain The last time she stood up—she wrapped her arms around me I stood for her strong as a tree. On the last day—all there’s to say: “I love you” and “Thank you my dear.” I wish I could take away—all of your fear. O Lilly O Lilly—Are you near me Sweet Lilly? Will you come for me when I go? Lilly O Lilly—Can you hear me Sweet Lilly? Dontchya know that I love you so. We had a lifetime together Hours to do with what—we chose And so fast it happened—we slid into forever At her grave you know—I tossed in a rose Lilly left with a smile—as she blew her last breath and I felt her pulse come into me (Then we) dressed her in purple— and covered her in pink roses for her entrance—to eternity. Lilly O Lilly—Are you near me Sweet Lilly? Will you come for me when I go? O Lilly O Lilly—Can you hear me Sweet Lilly? Now I look to the sky—for that face I—love so! With the sun in my eyes—and Lilly in my heart I heard all—that she came to say “World Peace” she’d whisper in her demand every night to God she did pray: World Peace! World Peace! World Peace Today! World Peace! World Peace! Il Pace per Il Mundo! World Peace! World Peace! Give everyone in the world peace—today!” World Peace! World Peace! World Peace Today! x2 World Peace! World Peace! Il Pace per Il Mundo! World Peace! World Peace! Give everyone in the world peace—today!” When I think over—all the things that came to pass, I’ll always remember—her words of wisdom: Never argue with a Jackass! Lilly O Lilly—I can feel ya Sweet Lilly? Life with you is all I’ve ever known. Lilly O Lilly—Rest in peace Sweet Lilly Before you know it, I’ll rejoin your soul. And we’ll waltz through the heavens— And we’ll lindy through the skies, My Sweet Mamma Lilly and me. Lilly O Lilly O Lilly O Lilly O Lilly O Lilly Fly Free!
8.
O Mamma 04:34
“O MAMMA” O Mamma I love you O Mamma I care I’m here thinking of you Way up there O Mamma can you hear me—way up above ? I want you near me—so you can feel my love O Mamma I love you O Mamma I’m true Can’t stop thinking of you What am I to do? O Mamma how are you? t’So hard to let you go from this place I thank God you died peaceful with a smile on your face O Mamma can you hear me? Better now without ears? Can you feel my heart beat? Can you hear this song? There are things I’d do over if I got the chance but I tried my best ‘cause I knew life doesn’t last O Mamma I can feel your—arms around me I wish you were here, so we could relax and watch TV I know you had to go everyone does It’s a simple truth I’m filled with your love O Mamma I’m crying O Mamma I’m blue Without you, I still I wake up two a.m. like we used to do O Mamma I hear you in all I think and say I do things just like you I learned from all your ways O Mamma I love you O Mamma you’re mine Life is heartbreak after heartbreak still we must shine I’m keepin’ your house clean just as you would do Somehow it became springtime The tulip stalks tell me so O Mamma can you hear me? O Mamma where are you? Can you take me with you? Even if I don’t stay? There are things I’d do over There are things I’d do One thing I did perfect was be in love with you O Mamma I love you O Mamma I’m true I’m here thinkin of you What am I to do? O Mamma can you hear me Way up above? I know you are near me I know you feel my love.
9.
Her Blue 21:36
“Her Blue Shines Through it All” 7/20/2016...7 days after Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through the whole life through Her blue shines through it all She came to us October 20th 1926, and she departed July 13th 2016. That night I looked to the sky for her sunset. You know when I talked to my mother about how she survived everything how she kept sparkling—I mean her sparkler, her blue eyes was her superpower! So when I asked her how she got through it all and still kept sparkling her spirit, You know what she told me? You’re not gonna believe this. “Colors!” “Colors!” And that’s how I knew: Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through it all O her blue shines through the whole life through Yeah her blue shines through it all She blew my mind. For her work she surrounded herself with colors: every shade of pink of lipsticks and nailpolishes, blonds of hair dyes and in her knitting, blues and purples, roses and creams. And when she put on clothes, she wore purple from head to toe, even her gloves her purple. She’d never wear black. Her sneakers she polished white once a week on Fridays. She had this bottle of “Hollywood Sani-White” underneath the kitchen sink. So on July 13th 2016 when I looked to sky for the sunset, I expected colors long smooth brushstrokes of pinks her pinks her brushstroke perfect manicures. I expected the sky to be brushed like her manicure. But instead it was overcast. The sky was gray a gray sheet of paper, a gray expanse. I was stunned and confused. I looked to the overcast sky and I yelled, “Ma where are ya!!!?” And I drove left onto the Williamsburg Bridge and there I looked up at the overcast sky, and up there, over the bridge, were two cut outs of eyes, her eyes, with the brightest blue light shining through, pouring through and a cloud shaped into a smile. My Mother’s eyes were in the sky! I looked up at her bright jewel eyes smiling down on me, singing, rocking me to sleep, comforting me just like I was a baby Her face in the sky was as big as when I was a baby, and I felt that magic sparkle from her eyes that I always felt looking up at her. And I knew: Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through the whole life through Her blue shines through it all Audrey and Simba were in the car with me, and saw what I saw. We were headed to my Mother’s patroness, La Madonna delle Monte Carmelo. To the Basilica in Brooklyn to meet Nicole and Emily, to pray for her, since she died during her Patron Saint’s “Feast of Mt. Carmel.” All night long, pairs of bright blue eyes shown through the grey sky. Her message was clear: “My blue shines through it all!” And that is how you get through all the travails of life. You keep on shining. This is her story: Two sisters married two brothers. They each had two daughters. Lucy & Rachel, and Lucy & Rachel. Italian tradition dictated you had to name your children for their grandparents. So all these four girls were named after their two grandmothers Lucia Armienti and Rachele LeRario, the two grandmothers, my great grandmothers. And now I can invoke the linked names of six generations from Great Grandma Rachele, to Grandma Rose, to my blessed Mother Rachel, to my sister and brothers to their children, and their children’s children. And I keep in consciousness the next generation, the children of these children, the seventh generation I can contemplate. Now, Lucy & Rachel, and Lucy & Rachel were raised as sisters, in a six-room second-story walk-up on Teller Avenue in the Bronx. My mother was the baby, She was obsessed by airplanes. Whenever she heard an airplane overhead as it would land into LaGuardia, she ran to the windows of the apartment and she’d watch it One day, on July 16, 1928, she leaned too far so at two years old as she she was sitting up on the window ledge, she fell out, in a seated posture, two stories, and a third story down into the concrete sub-basement alleyway. The neighbors all said somebody threw a doll out the window but it was the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, La Madonna delle Monte Carmelo, and my mother survived. She’d need all kinds of surgeries and she’d wear leg braces and she’d be a crippled throughout her youth but she survived and she would learn to walk again and to dance because: Her blue shined through it all, Her blue shined through it all O her blue shined through the whole life through, Yeah her blue shined through it all! She had a beautiful sweet father named Giuseppe, and he took her to Orchard Beach in the Bronx, as therapy He buried her legs in the sand and he held her hand and took her into the ocean and held her up so the waves could beat against the backs of her knees. And when she was able to walk out of the hospital for the last time, her father held her hand. And this is what she always remembered. She felt so bad leaving all the other crippled kids in the hospital, all her friends, This stayed with her. As did the genteelness of her father. Her father with his gentle hand pulled her along, back out into the Bronx. She always credited her parents, immigrants off the boat, for being progressive enough to agree to the surgeries which were radical at the time. Cause what they did at the time was an experiment. They operated on her “good leg” to slow its growth, so that her legs would be even. She was always thankful to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Throughout her life, she gave away as many scapulars as she could. For years, til she was a teenager, the doctors wanted to show off her legs, so she’d have to walk into these rooms and strip down in front of many many male doctors who tried to convince other families to agree to the series of surgeries on their crippled children. Finally, she said “I’ve had enough of that.” She walked on. In school, the two Lucys and the two Rachels caused a lot of confusion because they had the same names. “You never knew who the teacher was calling,” Aunt Lucy Rossi told me. So their friends gave them nick names that stuck their whole lives. My mother Rachele or Rachel was now called Lilly. Her sister Lucia or Lucy was now called Patty. So now you had a Lucy and a Lilly and a Patty and a Rachel. No, you had a Patty and a Lilly and a Lucy and a Rachel. All four of them made it into good old age. Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through the whole life through Yeah her blue shines through it all Born Rachele, called Rachel, then Lilly, She loved music and became a great dancer. She played the radio all her life. As long as her foot was tapping, I knew all was well Like a miracle in 1926, the year she was born so was the Paramount Theater at 43rd and Broadway as if it was built just for her. She was born one month before its opening! As a teenager she hung out there all the time. “We’d spend the whole day there,” she told me, “bring a sandwich, hear the live music, the big bands, and they’d always have a movie. We’d take the train there and back, and think nothing of it.” She heard them all, and had all their autographs: Sinatra, Billy Eckstein, The Modernairres, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, the list goes on.... She’d also go by the club house at Yankee Stadium where the players talked to the kids casually on their way out of the park. She had all their autographs too, DiMaggio, all of them. She tells me of when she heard Sinatra’s voice for the first time. “I was sitting on my bed, with the window open. Someone on the block was blasting a radio. The song filled the block. That Old Black Magic That voice, I thought, that voice! came into my room.” And back to The Paramount she went, to get his autograph. Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through the whole life through Yeah her blue shines through it all She became a hairdresser. The “in” hairstyles of her day were the “Permanent Wave,” and “Two Swirl Curls & a Pompodor” She loved that one. She’d give everyone that one. She’d say, “This is perfect for your head. It will frame your face.” Throughout my teenage life with her, she gave Permanent Waves to her sister Patty, and her Mother Rose, and to her neighbors, especially the elderly—she’d go into their homes, and she’d cut the hair of her cousin Lucy. She had a mission of beauty and making people feel good. She taught me how to section a head. “You wash the hair and dry it then you block the head with small pieces of felt. The felt has a slit in it, perfect for the size of a roller. You clamp it and block the hair. You section the head, like bricks. Curl by curl. This is one section of the head. This is another section. This is another section. The rollers all fit. A normal size head is four sections on top and a couple going down on the sides. If the head’s bigger, you have more sections. If the hair needs a trim, you cut it while it’s blocked. If you see the wave’s going a certain way, you cut into the wave. You have to look at the head to see the way the hair naturally goes. Then you moisten the head with Permanent Wave lotion. You take a piece of cotton, and it has to be saturated, each piece of hair.” Permanent Waves smelled like ammonia. all the plugs, all the clamps, all the curlers, all the papers, the rods her gentle finger spinning technique so you didn’t stretch the curl when you pull out the roller. But the smell of the ammonia, I couldn’t take it, so I ran outta the house. Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through the whole life through Yeah her blue shines through it all Once she described burning a woman’s hair. “I was still in school. I worked for nothing at the time. I made my own apprenticeship. The shop was called Lou Bud’s. It was on Ahun-fiftieth Street off Third Avenue. It was above a bank. I walked into the shop and said, “I want to work.” I told him I’d work for nothing. I wanted experience. He gave me a chance. He saw I was neat and clean, and efficient. I knew what I was doing, I just needed experience. I did a Permanent Wave, and I started kibbitzing with the girls; we used to have a lot of fun. I forgot to shut the machine off. \ The customer said, “Miss, it’s getting hotter and hotter!” I said, “That can’t be because it’s off.” I went running to the back, I saw smoke coming up from her head, and I yelled to my boss across the shop, “Mr Bud! Mr. Bud!” And I motioned to him to help me. We pulled everything off, --one, two, three— and put the cool dryer on. We took the curlers off, boop, the hair came right off, boop, the hair came right off. But it was all in here at the base of the neck. I was very fortunate. She had exceptionally thick hair, what we used to call like a horse’s hair. She never knew. She was very happy. I learned that lesson good. Next time I paid attention. It never happened again.” She’s got a couple of stories that she loved to tell, that are emblematic of her life: One day she was wearing a brand new coat. She earned the money working and saved and saved her nickel tips and treated herself to this new coat. It was black wool with a velvet collar. Very stylish at the time. Her father pinned on her lapel, a little gold angel. One afternoon she was on a break from work and she went into this fancy store—I think it was Bonwit Teller. She put her coat on a hook and was just trying on new clothes. And when she went to leave, she put on her coat but it wasn’t her coat! It was this ratty old coat! Somebody had switched the coats! And stolen her brand new coat! So she went to the store security guy and told her story but he didn’t really believe her. He thought she was trying to get a new coat from an old coat. They asked if there were any identifying marks on the coat. Then she remembered the little gold angel her father had pinned on the lapel. So she told the guy, “My father, this morning, pinned a little gold angel on my lapel!” So they spread the word of this detail to the security guards throughout the store, and there was a glint of something shiny that hit one security guard in the eye off the lapel of a coat on a woman as she was leaving the store. It was the angel on my mother’s coat. And that’s how she got her coat back. Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through the whole life through Yeah her blue shines through it all Thank you Mom for teaching me to love the world, how to be kind, how to sparkle, to cook, to knit, to sew, to give haircuts, to section a head, to cut coupons, to float on water, to be a consumer advocate, to survive, to shine through it all. Thank you for being astute, street-smart, wise. for seeing through to the heart of issues, for never being distracted by B.S.. I will continue your nightly prayers for world peace. I will miss your commentary on the news, the election, your running commentary on Yankee games, and UCONN women’s basketball games. I will miss your blasting the radio in the house as you cooked gravy on Sundays. I will continue your nightly prayers for World Peace. I will remember how when we went to Italy, all through the north you didn’t speak, not in Roma, or Firenze, or Venezia, but when we got south, to Bari, to Acquaviva delle Fonte, and Cassano delle Murge, when you met your first cousins Isabella, and Rosa, and “i tre Michele” how you burst out into the language, the dialect, the slang of the century before, of your mother’s youth, and I’ll remember how we all laughed and laughed. No one in Italy had heard those expressions for a generation! I’ll remember how you outsmarted everyone. Thank you for teaching me to never argue with a jackass. Once there was a leak in the bathroom ceiling, water came down from upstairs through the bathroom light fixture, The local handyman came to look, and tried to put her off, saying, “Next time there’s water leaking, call me back.” “Oh what a good idea,” she said, and as he left, she sprayed water on that line on the wall. She called him back. “You’re so right!” she said, “it’s dripping again. You’re brilliant! Come you’ll see!” And he came back and fixed the leak. In her youth she was a heartbreaker. She lamented that. “Boys I didn’t even know were sad around me. I hurt their feelings if I didn’t say Hello. I didn’t even know them! One boy, the landlord’s son Louis wouldn’t leave me alone. He begged me to go to the movies with him. He pestered me. I couldn’t stand him. He practiced the violin. He was terrible. I can still hear it. eeeee-errrr eeee-errrrr So one day I told him, “Louis, tell you what. Give the money to Benny and I’ll go to the movies with him.” Benny was a kid on the block she liked better. And so that’s what Louis did, and my mother says, “Louis was so happy to do so! and he stopped pestering me.” And another thing... In her 70’s and 80’s she drove around with her friend and neighbor Al Paoletta. A bunch of seniors would walk into McDonald’s with used paper cups and drink the coffee with refills for free. Al drove. Al’s car had no reverse. Mom would open her blinds as a signal to Al and Rosalee, and they’d bring in food and all share their dinner. They’d go to Nathan’s for hot dogs on coupons, and Al would have to shout out the window, “Scuse me Miss, do you mind if you leave that parking spot? I need a spot I can drive into and out of... without going in reverse!” Another story she loved to tell came from her adventures in her eighties with her friends. Al’s friend Larry said, “Let’s go to Macy’s to get new watchbands. I got a friend there who’ll give us a deal.” So they went to Macy’s. Larry had dementia. So when they got there, he said, “What are we doing here?” And my mother, without missing a beat said, “Don’t you remember Larry? You’re buying me a diamond ring. You proposed!” Things she told me: “One day you’ll find your niche” “Broaden your circle of friends” “If you don’t try, you’ll never know.” Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through it all Her blue shines through the whole life through Yeah her blue shines through it all In her last voice message to me, she says: “I’m dozing off. I just want you to know I’m going to sleep.” She always sang me to sleep with “Que Sera Sera” and now I will hear that in her voice for all time. Some of her last words to me were, “Let’s go home and make meatballs.” I will Mom, I will.
10.
All I Can Do 03:29
“ALL I CAN DO IS CRY” (10/8/2016) All I can do is cry Since the mo-ment you did die All I can do, All I can do, is Cry, Cry, Cry x2 All I do is cry There’s no when where or why All I do is cry Don’t know how to try Since the mo-ment you did die There’s no wonderin why All I do, all I do, is cry  
11.
Room 03:48
“WAS THERE ROOM” copyright 2017 Annie Lanzillotto Was there room—in your eyes the night—we sat by the fire? Was there room—in your heart when we started—to forge a love for life? --- Was there room—in your soul did’ja know—how far our love could go? Was there room—in your thoughts did’ja know—we belonged to the road? -- Was there room—in your life for one glorious mountain climb Was there room—in your day To say—I love you for all time -- Was there room—in your night for soft light—and plenty of wine Was there room—in your smile for your heart—to jump beats with mine --- Was there room—in your soul to be kind—no matter what life would throw Was there room—in your nights For your story—to be sung and told --- Was there room—in your heart When apart—did’ja find me in the moon? Was there room—in your hours D’jyou feel power—when we held hands tight --- Was there room—in your stance to take a chance—and speak all your truths Was there room—on your lips for a sip—of earth’s greatest delights --- Was there room—in your leaving For believing—we’d connect after it all Was there room—in your breath for a death to come—and go --- Was there room—in your eyes the night—we sat by the fire?

about

Never Argue With a Jackass
Eleven Songs of Mourning

This album is in memory of the life and love of my mother, Rachele Clare Petruzzelli Lanzillotto, 10/20/1926 - 7/13/2016

The album title comes from my Mother's most well known wisdom phrase.

These songs came to me in the wake of my Mom's death.
And now I send them to you for your grief journey.

the heart cracked open sings

After Mom died in July, Al Hemberger gave me a dulcimer and the dulcimer took me on a healing journey through summer fall and winter of deep mourning and out into spring.

"Never Argue With a Jackass" 11 songs of mourning is my breakout performance on dulcimer & vocals. On several songs, it is just me-- 4 strings and one vocal chord... It feels like the best work I ever did, -- the summation of all of my parts.

credits

released June 1, 2017

Music and Lyrics, by Annie Lanzillotto, copyright 2017
Vocals, dulcimer, keyboard, by Annie Lanzillotto
Guitars, Bass, Recording & Engineering, by Al Hemberger
Pocket Trumpet by Pasquale Cangiano

Produced by Annie Lanzilloto & Streetcry Inc
Executive Producer Al Hemberger & The Loft Recording Studios, Bronxville, New York
Executive Producer Ron Raider

photo by: Jules Gimbrone, in Northampton, MA

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Annie Lanzillotto Yonkers, New York

Annie Lanzillotto is an author, songwriter, performance artist, orator and poet.

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