Welcome to Natti Vogel
at The Green Room 42
Photography by Haley Varacallo
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Lyrics
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I want you to know me
I don’t know where to begin
Should I begin with the past?
Should I begin with my dreams?
Should I begin with just here and now,
being pleased?I want you to know me
(at least try and let you know me)
I want you to know me
It’s time somebody knew me.
These days, not a single movie speaks to me:
just cells running through me like a roomy breeze
And is it wrong that I want you to redeem me
when I can’t seem to find it in me to redeem me?
Judge harshly if you want,
just love me afterwards.
When you’re out of words and when I’m overworked,
I want you to know me
better than I let him know me
I want you to know me
you’re so moody in the morning
you’re such a cutie in the morning
I think about my ex a lot more than I want to
(technically not ready to love you;
medically I need to)
I give my self a lot more shit than I ought to -
I’m technically not ready to love you;
medically I need to.
If you see me with you,
then I see me with you.
It’s just that simple
You seem to know yourself so goddamn well
I want to know you better than you even know
yourself
Hell, sometimes I think I know myself so well
and then all of a sudden I’m falling and bruising my
fontanelle, I
want you to know me:
the armor and the edges,
like you’re the homie.
I want you to know me
because I think that you might get it
I want you to know me
when I remember that we’re dying
and I remember that we’re lonely.
I want you to know me
Did you always see it in me?
I think it went above me…
I want you to know me
before everyone thinks that they know me
and it’s nobody’s business, but
I want you to know me
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First off, I’m up sitting and singing, so you’re already winning
Are you loving the breeze on the beach with your mates when the sea sprays your face
I could have used a little of that H2O in my neighborhood just now
nbd: the building down the block just dead-ass burnt down to the ground
I might do, too
Got to stay cool
I give up, I love you
Whatever you decide to do is cool
But I love you
As dumb as it might look (and I know it does)
I love you
As early as it is - true, it’s too soon
I love you
Secondly, you haven’t texted for hours so you’ve got all the power
A minute feels like a week
And my black keys are cherries, - unlike you and me - that won’t bruise or go out of season
If it turns out you were only true in June but you lie in July, we can both still eat em
(though I’ll hope you choke on them for a moment, I’ll get over it)
Not doing my best
Keeping cards to chest
I know it hurts
But you know what’s worse
Lastly, I’m up sitting and singing, so I’m already sinning
Are you loving the breeze on the beach with your mates when the sea sprays your face?
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hat? thought you’d pull me like a stunt?
Betcha thought you'd won a sacrificial lover
Well bravo, you almost had me for a moment there
We all know you're a star: it looks like you're alive from afar
you had a nice combustion, you got a certain something
you got the right curves, the right lines, Oo and I was into it alright.
I'll admit that when you smiled there was sunlight
but when I took a look inside you were airtight, it was airtight
nothing in there
it's a shame, such a shame that you gotta be
so goddamn into the games
i'm not being judgey or butt-hurt when I say
I'm hip to you, hip to your
conquest complex ~ oh, you got me feeling all over the place!
I'm not trying to learn you or burn you in my
brain
but I'm hip to you
just know I'm hip to you
oh I'm hip to you, trick
oh you're a good time, as long as no one anticipates the punchline
I’ve got some personal faves like when you’d switch and bait it
or play find the lady
or when you shove 'em in the deep end and then obliterate the evidence
oh you'll make it big for sure … up until you’re 34
you'll be a bored divorcee
I'll play in Musee d'Orsay
with my big heart and my big &$@!
that couldn’t heal you, though I tried
I blew my load on you for nothing, gezundheit.
I won't recall you but this song is a highlight
so I like what we did there...
I was in it, on it, all over it, up for it, down with it...
you were in it, on it, all over it, up for it, down with it
every direction in regards to it
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I’ll tell you what I legally can:
I got to his apartment early
It wasn’t like me at all
He said « are you thirsty? »
Inside I’m like “why wouldn’t I be?
It’s fucking 2am on a Tuesday”
thank god I said “I’m good”
11 floors up from the lobby first door on the left
But he leaned right
How was I to know from just a DL hookup
profile?
Boys like you and I know our way around a closet
We got discreet secretions secretly stored
deep in our sacrums
We’ve seen shame disintegrate condoms
We’ve seen parents try to murder their
children
So who was I to judge
When I found out what he’d done?
Oh, the things we do, boys? that stay in each other’s apartments
Boys, boys, boys, boys!
Oh, the things we do that we think stay in each other’s apartments
Just let you know the war ain’t been won yet
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It's not a question of lacking literacy,
cause I've been at the books since I was 3;
It's not a telltale sign of near despondency -
cause (at least for now) love, you're the only one for me.
I just don't know how to put us, darling
You called us 'partners' but I found that word alarming
You tried on 'lovers' but that word unnerved my parents
So to spare us the embarrassment, I wrote a little chorus with the help of the thesaurus:
THESAURUS CHORUS:
How-a how-about 'paramour'?
That's overwrought, for sure!
'Significant other'?
O brother, way to excise all the fun
from this flame--
No, 'flame' is too ephemeral!
'Mate' is zoological,
'Sweetheart' is a confection,
'Better half' is a deflection,
And 'main squeeze' reeks of sleaze
We trick ourselves into thinking that we have a way with words
When words just really have their way with us!
Quoth Juliet to justify her transgression:
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
Though, one must admit, dear, it is not quite as sweet when
you refer to me as 'the guy with whom {you} sleep'
I just don't know how to put us, honey
You called us 'consorts' but that sounds like it's for money
We tried on 'spouse' which makes us sound like we are Amish
I can't promise that we'll spot a single perfect title for us in the depths of the thesaurus
THESAURUS CHORUS
Lately I've been swimmin' in
Antonyms and synonyms
Seems there's no definin'
This relationship that I am in
I've even resorted to acronyms!
Like FWB (friends with benefits)? Too desperate for even me.
LTR (long-term relationship) & LDR (long-distance relationship)? Too much work, by far.
How about P.W.A.P.F.O.E., People Who Are Particularly Fond of Each other ?
And that spells:
Pwapfoe!
Pwapfoe!
Pwapfoe!
Rolls right off the tongue!
I don't know...
THESAURUS CHORUS
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Hey, been a long time since I’ve seen your
Face. I was just about to ask
“How have you been,” but before I could, you jumped
In, with a “where are you living these
days?” Said I’m 1 block away from
The J, couple stops past the Williamsburg bridge
from Manhattan, and you said
Don’t you find it odd
That we all move to Brooklyn
That we all move to Brooklyn
We all move to Brooklyn in the end
Hey, this apple’s been had by
worms. It doesn’t look all that tasty now
So you could say that this was my choice, but I’ll have you
know: it’s not cause the rents were high (They’re actually higher here)
I pay for the distance from the advertisements
And you said
D’you think that when we die
Our souls move to Brooklyn?
That our souls fly to Brooklyn
That we all move to Brooklyn when we die
Plus, I heard your mom
She too moved to Brooklyn
And the word on the street is
Wall Street’s moving to Brooklyn, too
Why? Cause we all move to Brooklyn.
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The florist is bringing bouquets again
which smell like the plastic they’re in-
dew-dropped, clean-cut and immaculate,
and once they wilt we’ll have more.
Farewell, one-time troops!
We has a little fun; now it’s done
There’s your spot by the compost heap
on these beds of filth, what beauty can there be?
Here’s dirt - a simple little thing yet so rich
within: exoskeletons of the ones we’ve loved,
Tangles of roots underground,
Real things bloom.
Let bloom
The gardener’s weeding out back again,
Pauses to breathe in the buds
they go down much better than their packaging
and once wilted, reborn
Veterans, fare thee well!
You had a little scare in the frost and the heat
But you’re still here
on these beds of filth, what beauty there can be.
the Ones we’ve loved,
tangles of roots underground
real things bloom
Let bloom
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when I was 14, a psychic said
‘girl you’ll never learn the power of your thighs’
but I got wise to my divine
everybody wants IT
and no one really knows what they want
they treat it like a drug, treat it like a crutch
but I’m not your doctor or your dealer
I want to be the one who lifts you up again
I only need, I only need to be awo-a-woken up...
HEY LO. HEY LO!
hey LO HA HO, LO HA HO HO
(never have I ever ... ever had a lover) x2
Just because you moan and groan
Doesn’t mean that you’re in the zone
I can show you how to whisper in a crowd
and hit it home like a megaphone
I feel it in the wind, I
see you in the courtyard
so you got a few strangers’ numbers
but have you really ever had a lover?
I want to be the one who lifts you up again
I only need, I only need to be awo-a-woken up...
I got a moon in virgo
Don’t want to talk about it anymore
I got a moon in virgo
Don’t wanna, don’t wanna
run from this dance… run from this dance
I just want to lift you up
Lemme lift up
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I’m falling in love with intangible things
Notes like cardamom bulbs, hot and cloying
Why’d I feel it if I wasn’t even on your flight?
What do you think you can get from me in
just one night?
Soft skin, beautiful muse
Why does that make me
always wish
that I had a pen in hand?
You’re in it for the warm chords
I just happen to be here, human, breathing
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Let it all fall away
I’m already gone
You scrub me clean
Make me real again
I pretended to be a whore
Pretended to be a lord
One thing’s for sure
I’m not pretending anymore
My heart leaps (is it at the expense of me)
at your shades of green (lawful like the horse of the sea)
What if my name’s wrong?
Can you forgive me for having a weird name?
Thanks, now I’m stuck like you
Swaying like a metronome
Pause in my throat
Cactus in my—-
Cactus in my—-
God wants a tree
God wants me
... do you?
I wish I could tell you how I feel
It’s my literal job to tell you how I feel
It’s your literal job to be cagey
And not rock the boat
Where’s the pulse?
Are we making it up as we go along
Making it up as we call on our Gods
Sea, I want to sing out to ya
Make love to ya
Hop on it
Ship out on it
Would it just crash and burn
I want to be the boatload
I want to be the buttload of love
I don’t want to be the symptom
I don’t want to be the cause
I just want to be the light
that you wake up to when all hope seems lost
I love the way the third camera zooms in on you
I resent the way the drones are moving in on me
Simple and true
I rock my boat on you
Flooding you through the windows of me
Come on little love
Make me break for you
Come on little love
Make me break, make me split
Can you love me
I can’t pick up any more shifts
I swear
Can you cover me
I don’t want to love myself anymore
I’m so tired of it
Don’t leave me hanging
Don’t leave me in a bind
Give me a crack through the middle
Give me a cry from the steerage
Give me some strings
Give me a hinge, some glue and a vase
I’ll make you an impossible bottle
Now focus on me
You say you want it
Are you sure want it
We’ve been circling on it
Is it bionic, probiotic, are we symbiotic?
You say you want it
Are you sure you want it
If he leaves me haunted
is it good for optics?
Hashtag problematic
With his blonde hair and his blue eyes and his blue blue blood, blue blue balls
From the southern American revolution straight down to
Natti Vogel
Can he even pronounce it?
Is it unpatriotic?
Are we bionic, probiotic are we symbiotic?
Is he sure he wants it
When he says he wants it
Oh he’s sure he wants it
Or is he a frail fey fairweather fairy afraid of
introducing me to the fam
Me and my empty wallets
And my million songs
Though I dropped every dollar on him
I love him and I am sorry bout it
The way he moving is mad avoidant
It keeps me jizzing
Sorry about it
Sorry for living
For wanting the whole thing
The whole damn thing
I want you to want to know who I slept with
In October of 2016
I wanna be your man (x3)
I wanna be your——
We don’t need to promise anything
Feel like you’d promise anything
I don’t just promise anything
Go ahead, go ahead promise anything
When we first met backstage and kissed in
the streetlights
We were promised everything
And we promised to topple the fascists
Is it so hard? Is it so hard to know what’s in
your heart for a moment
and you were so hard
You got so hard for a moment
I don’t understand
why you’re following me
Why are you hollering at me
Why are you bothering me
If you don’t want to be my man
no matter the outcome or the premise or the confines
I just want to be with you
Every outpost, every flood line, every
birdsong cries
I just want to be with you
We don’t need to promise anything
I just want to be with you
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I keep obsessing over that picture of you with
your arm around Tommy
You haven’t really kissed me or held me for
weeks
So how could you fault me?
No one ever got a shot of us looking like
that
And now never will, prolly
I never wanted to be anything other than me
But now I wanna have been Tommy
I know my parents would prefer you to me
And yeah I’m sure they’d love Tommy
But I guess he was a stable full-time job
And I was your hobby
Boys like you two play your cards close and I fold
like origamiI never wanted to be anything other than me
But now I want to have been Tommy
You only ever picked at me for a spell
But you tucked in for Tommy
If you wanted to keep me only to starve me, shoulda just told me
Cuz I kept tenderizing and seasoning as you looked on coldly
I never wanted to be anything other than me but now I want to have been Tommy
Yeah I woulda let you lick the bowl clean
If you just saw me
And though you prolly never will , I wanna
know: did you ever see Tommy?
With his Rosy apple cheeks propped up by the smile of a puppy
Yeah I was down to give up every freedom I had for you to still love me
I know he wasn’t perfect , in the end you said
that he was too crunchy
I see you rolling your eyes and telling your
friends that I was too soggy
Say my name say my name
I know it’s harder on the tongue than Tommy
I never wanted to be anything other than me
but now I want to have been Tommy
Now I gotta live the rest of my damn life
knowing I wanted to be anything other than
me
How’m I gonna live the rest of my whole life
knowing I wanted to be anything other than
me
All the music in the world couldn’t beat the joy of having been
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What a marvelous soirée, never seen a scene quite so scenic
We’re the life of the party, you & I, they say, like they mean it
But if they wanted to connect, if they wanted to inspect, then they’d do it
Instead of trying to convince us that they’re fabulous, we’re fabulous
It’s all just sticking to my tongue, sticking to my mouth, man
Gotta get it out before I choke
I don’t wanna find the one, that’s just an
Idiot fantasy that we’re waiting on, again, no
I don’t wanna find the one. Isn’t love enough? I don’t wanna find the one.
I’ll admit that when I met you, I bet you would get to become a habit
We liked lining up the white dots, getting into tight spots and wreaking havoc
Now you hate to be alone, hate the sound of my phone whenever it’s ringing
Oh, you know it’s not love when they reach out to touch you and you fidget
Is this the end-game of romance, man?
Making endless plans, well, plan it if you can but leave me out…
I get so much better when you don’t put pressure on me
And don’t expect me to be everything at once, yeah
Love gets so much better when you don’t put pressure on it
And don’t expect it to be everything at once, but
It’s such a gift to give it, to take it, to make it
I wouldn’t trade it for a ring, a ring to rule your heart…
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I wake up early in the void
Feeling almost pure
I have to wonder is it time for desire
I cut my knee on the bed corner
Can hardly sleep for the cold air
Man, have I waited long enough
For my sire?
Show me where he is, my love
Show him where I am, his love
Oo my body melted when he held me
I had to leave for some unseen desire
I tried to stay
Happy in the shire
But I wake up missing home
I feel him in me
I wake up missing him
I left my home for desire
Now I can’t go back
Desire can’t go back
I know love won’t leave me cold
I know love won’t let me down
I wake up missing home
I feel him in me
I know his love won’t leave me cold
his love won’t let me down
I wake up missing him
‘Cause I left my home for
Desire
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Imagine a different life
A different life: imagine
Wedding bells
And a quarterly stride
Imagine a different life
So far, so SoCal; so long, sosoHo
Give me some time to reply
Give me a moment to think
Heartbroken when you could find me in circles on F trains going up and down the same loop
Whatever that means I’m all good
Chilling in his pool
Whatever that means I’m all good
Rump-shaking on the 7th floor penthouse when my chest lights up and the crowd goes wild
Like they used to go wild
He’s in on the joke
It’s all good
just don’t let him choke
It’s all good
Simple times
Nobody’s in your way, boy
Complex times
Crash down to the floor and
Nobody was fighting you, boy
Harvard-entry like omg boi
Bouquets on the ground like omg boy
Lilac and Lilet and St Germain type of shit with some Moët, boy
Yeah I really came up, boy
Do you remember when I couldn’t get a job scooping ice cream, boy?
Those days seem so far away, boy
I remember you doubting me, boy
I remember doubting me more
You blew smoke rings at me, boy
How badly did you even want the light, boy?
working at the church, boy
Was it for the money, boy?
I knew you well.
I knew you well, boy
Now that you’re singing my praises
How hollow it rings to me, boy, like tubular bells
How shallow your compliments feel to me, boy, like lillies
Oh boy
Yeah you really fucked me up boy
But I can’t complain, boy
No, I can’t complain, boy
Cause I really came up, boy
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I’ve had some real nice Ivy League boys start to date me
No TLC, but they called me cool, called me
sexy, called me crazy
and every one of them who said I wouldn’t
make it can drive by my house in the Hollywood Hills if they’re still hating
and if I’ve got time for the wasting, I’ll give em this statement:
I’m unreasonable.
cause you can’t reason with a beast like me
I’ve tried, trust me.
my dear friend rides her bike downtown without a
helmet
like Jay said: life comes in cycles, you just can’t help it
and if you’re out there listening, clutching
your pearl necklace,
thinking she’ll clutch them gates before too
long if she stay reckless,
you don’t know her like that, sis
she’s unreasonable
you can’t reason with a queen like her
it don’t apply,
you heard?
I don’t know you well
but I can already tell
that you’re unreasonable, too
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You see I’ve never felts this pretty in my life
I’m just trying to keep from breaking hearts in the night
Low-key in the back of my mind I see you, Oliver, reading me a book in your arms as I’m falling asleep
I kiss a new boy everyday at least
My body is electric and it’s frankly embarrassing
My mind is powerful but it cannot count any sheep
Or on anyone else it would seem though I hate
to say itI know you feel me
So hand me the bottle babe
I want to be the one that you sip on instead
Of making stories up
Hey
I know he hurt you
But don’t feel guilty for being a Free. Ass. Bitch.
Hey, hand me your bottle babe
Want you to be the one that I put in my head
Instead of all these stories
Hey
You know he hurt me
I don’t feel guilty for being a Free. Ass. Bitch.
Free Ass Bitch (x4)
You see I’ve never felt so hollow in my life
They say you cannot get it wrong but something isn’t right
I never settle, just stay loose in the saddle
It’s desert fire season in my land and in my heart
Can you put it out for me now?
I know it’s hard to believe that love will come to you after all that happened
Trust me you’ll know it when
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I've been on my best behavior, loving my neighbor
so why's that make me feel like a miserable failure?
You were my savior, tamed my lesser nature
I know I should be grateful
And everyone's a critic, they'll tell you where to stick it
Listen: I can take it, Lord knows I can take it well
But even I got limits when you're giving me the business
It gets to a place where I can't tell who I am anymore
I want my flaws back! Oh where'd you hide 'em at?They were the best friends that I ever had
I want my claws back; you got them to retract
I got a soft paw now when you attack
And still you ask why I've been so down
Think I've figured it out now: I want my flaws back
I get shit for what I say, shit for what I don't
Hell, I'd throw away my throat if I though that you'd let up
You say you do it all for me, well honestly that's awful sweet
But something's still bothering me, see
I got a shadow, sometimes it likes to hide out
But baby don't you be afraid cause it will lead you to my light
I won't be apologetic, won't try to forget it
I won't pasteurize or surgically modify
You had the best intentions
Your love is like an ocean
And I'm a bomb ticking in it slowly
I want my flaws back! Oh where'd you hide 'em at?
I gotta save 'em for somebody who would want them bad
I want my claws back! You got 'em to retract
I got a soft paw now when you attack
And still you ask why I've been so down
Think I've figured it out now: I want my flaws back
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You’ve got that thing that I ain’t seen before
You got a heart full of gold
And that’s really turning me on
You are making my life much greener
Now I can paint a picture
Just say you feel the way that I feel
I’m feeling sexual so we should be sexual
Thank my lucky stars like I made a wish
Crossing all this shit off my bucket list
I don't got a lot but I still feel rich
I might get a lot but I'll never switch
Sticks and stones won't make me bleed
Lift me up, no gravity
Windows open, I can breathe
I'm going so fast
90 degrees, not a cloud in sight
Feels like I'll never see December
It's so hot it's like
Living in a never-ending summer
I wanna keep living like we'll never die
Too far, too far
It could all get way too cheerful, now
I’ve got a fever above my waist
I got my fuzz all tipped to play
Concertina, concertina a chill that bends
This I swear, you’re the fiercest calm I’ve been in
Foreigner, hold me up
Met you in the night, lower east side
Owning up, told me it was your wedding night
We were both high
We don't need explanations tonight
We don't no expectations tonight
So we should be sexual
I’m feeling sexual
You’re feeling sexual
Woke up so late in the day, baby, I'm still faded (met in SoHo)
Was I in a dream on your balcony dancing naked?
I pick my clothes up, I hope you had your phone off
You know how people talk excuses
Why you fucked her over?
That's foreign
Tell me something sweet about you
Say you won't lie
Feel the city all around us, where we both hide
Don't wanna look up into those eyes
Since you'll only stay here this one night