More Gretchen Peters

Understated resonance (if that isn't an oxymoron) just pours from "Five Minutes" -- another offering from Gretchen Peters on her "Hello Cruel World" release.



I've got five minutes to sneak a cigarette
Five minutes to myself
Back behind the screen door of Andy's luncheonette
And I ain't got time to worry 'bout my health
My boss Andy says I smoke myself to death
Andy he reminds me some of you
Back when you were Romeo and I was Juliet
West Texas Capulet and Montague

Now I don't think too much about you anymore
We weren't much more than kids
It was nearly twenty years ago I shut and locked that door
Now I've got five minutes
Not much time to reminisce

Most nights I come home from work and I pour a glass of wine
Sometimes it's three or four before I stop
And Jessie makes a sandwich if I sleep through suppertime
And she leaves me on the couch to sleep it off
Now Jessie just turned 17 and she's wild as she can be
And there ain't nothin' I can do
Last weekend she ran off to meet a boy in Tennessee
Just like I used to run to you

I gave her hell when she came home this afternoon
Mascara runnin' down her face
Seems like history repeats itself, and it ain't up to you
And in five minutes
Your whole life can change

Andy he's good to me, and I can see it in his eyes
He'd love to take your place
But somethin' deep inside me just withers up and dies
To make love to him and only see your face

Somehow I've let myself go gently down the stream
A fine example I have set
Between the working and the livin' and the ghosts that haunt my dreams
I've got five minutes and I'm gonna smoke this cigarette

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Here's the title cut "Hello Cruel World":



haven’t done as well as I thought I would
I’m not dead but I’m damaged goods
And it’s gettin’ late
I’m a rusty hinge, a squeaky wheel
at the bad end of a shaky deal
cursed by the hand of fate
and ooooooh – I’m a very lucky girl
yeah ooooooh – hello cruel world

I’m a ticking clock, a losing bet
a girl without a safety net
I’m a cause for some concern
You don’t live this long without regrets
Telephone calls you don’t wanna get
Stones you’d rather leave unturned
but ooooooh – the grain of sand becomes the pearl
yeah ooooooh – hello cruel world

some folks go the easy route
numb the pain or put the lights out
either way they got to go
me I’m gonna stick around
in for a penny in for a pound
cause I hate to miss the show
and ooooooh – I’m a very stubborn girl
yeah ooooooh – hello cruel world
hello cruel world

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We'll close with "St. Francis" -- again on the "Hello Cruel World" release:



St. Francis walking on the water
All his lambs have gone to slaughter
All the creatures who receive his grace
you can see them all
in his haggard face

St Francis begging at your doorway
you want to let him in but what will the neighbors say
you know you can’t go on but you can’t give up
And he answers you
with his begging cup

St Francis sitting at your table
a cup of tea among the faithful
behind a wall that’s made of little lies
much to your surprise
you start to cry

by these wounds you will be whole again
by these signs you will know
you’ll feel a stirring in your soul again
’til sweet amnesia takes a hold

Saint Francis sleeping in the meadow
His halo is a raven’s shadow
He’s been sleeping for 800 years
In a potter’s field
Full of sparrow’s tears
And while we sleep and dream of heaven’s gates
down here on earth
the old man waits

Peters is simply one of those singer-songwriters who not only has lived what she writes about but captures those experiences in exquisite verse.