Welcome to Natti Vogel
at The Green Room 42

Photography by Haley Varacallo

  • Lyrics

  • 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

  • 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?

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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 origami

    I 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 

  • 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…

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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 it 

    I 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

  • 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

  • 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