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Unkept Woman

by Vanessa Boyd

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Unkept Woman comes with a fold-out insert panel with all the lyrics on it. The artwork is all inspired by the crossover between life in Morocco, where most of the album was written, and Tennessee, where it was recorded.

    While riding through the Sahara Desert on a camel, we crossed a dune and there, cocky as if he was born there, was a solitary rooster puttering around the sand. I took a photo which is completely blurry, with the movement of the camel and all, but when I got home I took a picture of my mother's rooster in his stead. This became the cover. The 3-panel spread is a collage of all the musicians who were an integral part of the record.

    This CD was manufactured & printed in the US by Cravedog with a glass master for high quality.

    Also includes immediate download of 14-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.
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  • Digital Album
    Streaming + Download

    Immediate download of [14]-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.
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  • Full Digital Discography Full Digital Discography

    Get all 5 Vanessa Boyd releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Agnostic Electric Gospel, Emerge, Pleasant Stay Hotel, Hunger, and Unkept Woman. , and , .

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1.
2.
too late to call i think of you all but it’s too late to call, you’ve put the kids to bed and you’ve set the alarm : what happens to the connection, of friendship, when you’ve got a family, and i’m just a bundle of impetuous inclinations : my mother got married at the age i am now, it wasn’t long before she was with child : boyd the bachelor, joined to, the spinster o’donovan, at least that’s what they called her
3.
token comforts a babe who’s lost her swaddling clothes, can you take me to a home? wrap me up in care and grace, steep me in some warm embrace : this sleeping bag’s my token comfort, can you tell me where I come from? wrap me up in safe confinement, cover me so softly : i have made it through another year, knowing only the vaguest sense of fear : whispering, none of this means, anything
4.
Hell Yeah 05:11
hell yeah today a check came in the mail and i said to myself, hell yeah : i’m working every day, every day, every day, for an hourly wage, it’s a shame the way i bust my ass to make a bill, just to pay another bill : i do what i have to, i do what i have to, i do what i got to do, i do what i got to do, i do what i want to, hell yeah : today i worked on my car turned the key and it started, hell yeah : i’m driving every day across the city, from point a to b, point a to b, but i know i’m free to leave at will, flee to country, forget about money : chorus : today i got a new job to look forward to, hell yeah : i’m moving overseas to a new country, finally, finally, and i know how lonely a new place can be, but i need a change of scene, challenge reality
5.
tell me child sometimes, questions can be lies, they wait for an answer, but really it was meant to imply, that order is in season, that life has a reason, that all you have to do is look and see, oh, tell me child, what do you want to be? just reach out your little hand and dream….
6.
Same Sky 04:52
same sky it used to be i was proud i could mix with any crowd, but now it seems i’ve lost the ability, to be in polite company, to edit the words that come so easily : and when does compromise turn into white lies, who’s the one to decide what is rude and what is nice, and i am starting to realize, it’s not just what i do or say, oh no, it’s who i am : and everywhere i go i know it’s the same sky above, and everytime i say goodbye i look up to the sun : it used to be that a friend was a stranger i’d just met, but lately in a crowd it seems it’s easy to offend, and i don’t care to talk with those who are thin-skinned, to tread on eggshells so that they can pretend : that their experience is the only one there is, don’t you dare rock the boat this conversation won’t float
7.
maghreb winter the air is cool and the leaves are falling : ramadan is drawing near, another winter another year : the lightbulbs are bare, and the paint is peeling : i’m 24, and i don’t know what for…
8.
9.
Unkept Woman 04:01
unkept woman a question of allegiance makes a woman wonder who she is : is it where i am from, where i was born, my family tree, genealogy : it makes a woman wonder who she is : no father, no brother, no lover, i’m an unkept woman : is it where i live, where my heart is, where i’m at, where i hang my hat : is it where I’m going, where I dream, my curiosity, the next country…?
10.
no lesson too late hey mama, i’ve done some crazy things in the past, i’m sure as a mother you’ve already guessed the half : i think of the times when i traveled alone, sleeping at night by the side of the road : well you can never learn a lesson too late, even if you learn it the minute before you die, even as your life flashes before your eyes : hello daddy, i know you told me to come on now, come on home, find a man, set up camp and settle down : well don’t you worry it none, i’m working on, taking it easy, taking one at a time : chorus : hey little sister, you tell me you’re getting married, you say with all the conviction an 18 yr old can muster : you say to me, you’re ready
11.
friends of mine southern belle, what the hell, might as well call it a day : i’m not a stranger to them shoes that you’ve been walkin in… : new england born, ran away from home, tell me what you’re doing here : chorus : desert chicana, boys they all want her, trying to keep it cool : chorus : small town hide-away, everybody knows your name, taking it day by day : chorus : educated tomboy, trailor park memoir, caught between the two
12.
Company 04:07
company so i met, this cat the other day, in granada, espagna, he was dutch, but he lived in germany, and i am an american…living in morocco : and i wondered, what would happen, if i fell, in love with him : for the last few years, i’ve been so independent, i didn’t even know the word compromise, but man let me tell you, since i left you in granada, i can’t seem to get you off of my mind : and it’s not that often i meet, someone, who interests me, and i say to myself, hey, i want to know more, what am i alone for : chorus : and it’s not that i wanna settle down, it’s not that i wanna fool around, it’s just that, your company was nice, it was nice to walk with you, nice to eat with you, nice to talk with you : chorus : and i am an american…he was dutch, but he lived in germany, and i am an american…and even though i’m alone, that is my home
13.
storm comin near halfway home and the sun is long gone, morning comes quick but the work goes slow, night as dark as a tree shadow : sun’s afeared of the storm comin near, but the wind’s running wild with the furry of a child, up from the waters the storm’s comin here : old man sippin on a brown bag beer, waitin for the bus to appear, skin as dark as a tree shadow
14.
You So Cold 04:13
you so cold oh tana why are you so cold, you don’t feel anything when others fold : oh tana why are you so cold, you don’t feel anything when others fold, when your old man breaks down and cries, you turn to stone right before his eyes, you tell him everything will be all right, but your arm around him is cold as ice : chorus : oh tana why are you so cold you don’t feel anything when others fold, when he gets scared and holds you tight, you try but fail to sympathize, even a man is a boy sometimes, weakness is a part of life

about

“Boyd is not afraid to experiment with different sounds…”
--OffBeat Music Magazine, New Orleans, LA

Unkept Woman came mostly from the year I spent living in Morocco (North Africa). As a single woman living alone, Moroccan folks felt sorry for me, ("miskina" ~ 'you poor thing'), and offered to adopt me. It was hard to explain why anyone would choose to live that way. Relationships, of all kinds, became a point of focus.

“Long-known in the East Tennessee region as a Celtic diva with wit, grit, and a hint of twang…”
--Laura Blackley, Asheville Citizen-Times, Take 5, Asheville, NC


…“unkept woman, shows off Boyd’s unique, slightly edgy voice (one that, in some weird way, recalls 4 Non-Blondes lead singer Linda Perry). Boyd’s music, however, is miles removed from the rocky pop of the Blondes: She evokes her own purer rock formula on the path of the introspective songwriter. “
-- Stuart Gaines, Mountain Xpress, Asheville, NC

credits

released August 16, 2005

credits :

vanessa boyd : vocals, guitar, shaker, whistle

dale thompson : doumbek, ashiko, persian clay drum, shaker, didgeridoo, 2X4, whistle, guiro : too late to call, token comforts, tell me child, hell yeah, same sky, maghreb winter, company, storm comin near, you so cold

dale mc cray : drums, marraca : token comforts, tell me child, hell yeah, company, you so cold

eric moon : bass : token comforts, tell me child, hell yeah, company, you so cold

jason doggett : the stick : too late to call, same sky, maghreb winter, storm comin near

mike stephenson : drums, stomp box, tambourine, chorus : ole dan tucker, rock and roll, no lesson too late, friends of mine, storm comin near

mark eades : bass : rock and roll, no lesson too late, friends of mine rachel johnson : fiddle, chorus : ole dan tucker

jon worley : harmonica : token comforts, hell yeah p.l. : harmonica : token comforts (backup), you so cold

brian martin : vocals : ole dan tucker :

many thanks to all of you

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Vanessa Boyd New York, New York

Original music. From folk ballads to roots americana to rock to spoken word to world fusion to electric experimental.

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