Where Have You Been

by Mike Uva

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  • Digital Album

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  • Compact Disc

    12-song CD in jewel case.

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about

"Dreamy folk from this virtual unknown but he gets help from pals playing accordion, tabla (?!), piano, loops and some stunning female vocals from Courtney Christenson. . . . Mike Uva has written one charming record here." --Dagger Zine

"This is a lovely record. . . . A mostly acoustic-based, home recorded, one-man pop record, Where Have You Been luxuriates in its verdant, cozy, hushed textures and Uva's detached but wry lyrics, whether thinking back on past loves ("Stuck in My Head"), trying, possibly successfully, to seduce new ones ("Protective Lotion"), or reflecting on recent adventures, like the Kinks/XTC/Joni Mitchell-like "English Garden." Guest vocals from some kind of angel named Courtney Christenson help - don't miss "Dinosaurs." . . . Superb! The whole LP is superb." --The Big Takeover

(PICK OF THE WEEK) "Where Have You Been is like the finest red wine: not too sweet, instantly affecting, enjoyed optimally through relaxed consumption, and it leaves an insatiable taste for more." --Delusions of Adequacy

"An excellent singer-songwriter effort." --Punk Planet

"An almost textbook example of jangly-pop perfection. . . . Where Have You Been exerts the lightest possible touch, brushing by with a slight breeze and leading you softly into a place for dreams. Summer afternoons remembered in winter, transient loves recollected in solitude, fragile melodies etched into hazy sounds -- they're all here in this oblique and lovely record." --Splendid Magazine

"[Uva's] lyrical imagery combines with truly inspired arrangements." --largehearted boy

credits

released 01 January 2004

tags

tags: cleveland pop folk indie pop rock singer-songwriter Cleveland

license

all rights reserved

feeds

feeds for this album, this artist
Track Name: Stuck In My Head
you said you had to keep to yourself for a while
i sent a letter to you, try to get you to smile
three weeks and no reply, where have you been
my friends are taking bets on the where you were when

and if i never hear another song off that buffalo springfield record again
it'll be too soon to have your voice stuck in my head
and if you never sang along i might not be so damn sick of my old top ten
they're the ones we used to sing together

sweet lucinda tell me all about your new dress
and things of which you spoke back when i couldn't care less
it's three months and no reply, where have you gone
my friends have given up on telling me to move on

(repeat chorus)
Track Name: Quickening
can i tell about us walking in the snow and the sound of snow
crushed below our feet on the street where she lived
this was something then that means just a little more now
it means a lot somehow

what would you give
for one quickening to relive the summer sun
it never shines in the same way
and where is she now
traveling wide and trickling down
you let this sweet, you let this beauty on the ground

and terrible now those scented skies
miracle mouth and silver eyes
that surprised you when she looked at you so cool
and soon after looked away
when you were too sure of yourself to say
hey can i stay

and what would you give
for one quickening to relive a summer love
but she does not feel the same way
and where is she now
traveling wide and trickling down
you let this sweet, you let this beauty on the ground

(repeat chorus)
Track Name: Dinosaurs
when the ghost of my lover descended
all the furniture was upended
and i received a bright red slap on my face
i've been haunted since the day that i met you
i'll be haunted 'til the day i forget the desperate in his voice
when he asked me

what about the dinosaurs
leave it up to the meteoric rise of suicides
among the green and lonely
and what a sweet demise
to be buried in a bed of stone
bury me in blankets of ashes and bone

on a street where the houses are walled in
a little girl on the ground had fallen
dressed in lace, a dirty face and smiling
when i held out my hand to assist her
she held a fistful of dirt and said sister,
what inspires the sky to keep changing

(repeat chorus)

i've been dead so long
i sometimes think my words don't fill the air
so much as keep my mouth from watering

i was not designed to turn my mind away
from what has held me under a spell

i was not designed to survive this murder

(repeat chorus)
Track Name: English Garden
drinking in an english garden was never like this
butterflies ain't got nothin' on a cottonmouth kiss
and we don't need chemistry textbooks to isolate the primitive fix
we just mix and we mix and we mix

and the water turns white and the little yellow light
at the back of the oven of the oven glows bright
tell me did i catch your name
it got lost between the pillows and burned up in the flame

and gone are the lovers to the accidental night
i didn't even notice they were falling out of sight
the sun in the window means another broken morning has won
wasn't that fun

and summer was an endless surface for the skimmer to skate
and the rust in the wheelwell was only a glimmer of fate
but empty pockets at the end of the season
has got us down to rubbing two sticks
for our kicks for our kicks for our kicks

and the water turns white and the little yellow light
at the back of the oven of the oven glows bright
tell me did i catch your name
it got lost between the covers or burned up in the flame

and gone are the lovers to the accidental night
i didn't even notice they were falling out of sight
and all the little thrills and the singalong rhythm is gone

and i don't know how you carry on, but you can count on this
whatever you surrender you will surely surely miss
the light in the window means the morning has come
and i think i stayed a little too long i think i stayed a little too
long i know i stayed a little too long now that summer is gone
Track Name: This Is Real
this is real, our love is real
and when you went out the garden gate
the northern states got so much colder
but awesome is not wide enough for you

this is real, our love is real
oh anna leah you ride the wheels of love
ridin' the wheels of happy silly love

but i am feeling no pain
i am feeling no pain

in a fog you might well hit what you think you can see
my radar says you're far enough from me
we were right for so long, until i found out i was wrong
oh i can never forgive you if you're gone

this is real, our love is real
and i remember you felt that way
but something or someone made you say that
heaven is not high enough for you

this is real, our love is real
oh anna leah you ride the wheels of love
hot on the heels of someone you can love

but i am feeling no pain
i am feeling no pain
i think i'll get some champagne

in a fog you might well hit what you think you can see
my radar says you're far enough from me
and i was blaming myself for so long
until i found out it was wrong
and i might even forgive you when you're gone

this is real, our love is real
oh anna leah you ride the wheels of love
ridin' the wheels of happy silly love
Track Name: A Trophy To Bear
flung from your lips
the insult that is so poetic
i could almost recite

but i won't fight
try as you might to drag me
into your garden of woe
i won't go, no

and i don't even think that you know
the reason for your angry words
and i don't care if you're right
no, i won't fight
throw that sucker punch because

i don't like fighting
and i won't play that game
and i can hold my words as long as my breath
and so far i've always won, yeah i've always won

now that you see me
bleeding from the fall i've taken
you still swear to the night
that you were right

but i don't like fighting
and i won't play that game
and i can hold my words as long as my breath
and so far i've always won, yeah i've always won
throw that sucker punch because

i don't like fighting
and i won't play that game
and when i come to, it's mostly still true
but i have a trophy to bear
Track Name: Losing Team
maybe you were right
to fade from sight
like a too good dream

maybe i misplaced my bet
on a losing team

and maybe i was wrong
to sing this song
to wallow in my grief

'cause a song
is much too brief
Track Name: Protective Lotion
it was summer in daytona
i held my diploma but
my love had left me, i was all alone
and as my life was wrecked
i chose to disconnect my heart and phone

i was putting off decisions
working for commission at the hotel
when she climbed out of the pool
and wanting her well
i walked over to sell her

a protective lotion
if you gently motion it all over your body
the sun will not burn
the air is getting thin
you need to take care of your skin
and cover your head, you're turning red

she looked at me suspicious, dripping and delicious
and she asked me, do i look the amateur?
and ready with an answer, i held up my hands and said, forgive me

your skin is well attended, i will not pretend
that you are unaware of dangers from above
but if you've time for spending, i am recommending

(chorus)

and so we proceeded to talk
of global warming and sunblock and
i was thinking maybe she could be the one
but so many times i've been burned
by first impressions i have learned

well then she handed me her number and yes i took it from her
and the sun shines brighter than i've ever known
and by the pool i hold her and yes caress her shoulder
with protective lotion . . .
Track Name: Spaced
we were so much alike
i forgot you were there
so untypical of me to be aware
and i can't tell you when it begins
i rise out of my skin
and see everything happen
from some other atmosphere
like i'm far too far away to say
i might like to be with you today

it'll be alright
when i'm down from my flight

but even spacemen know when to look
when the spaceship starts to cook
some unfortunate ending could be undone
oh when you see me rising above
it's not that i'm not in love
i'm just watching this happen
from some other atmosphere
and i might need someone else to say
maybe we should have some fun today

that'll be alright
and i'll come down from my flight
right away, right away, right away