we do not speak

from We do not speak - EP by VanWyck

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There was a interesting article in The Guardian about why only female songwriters are described as confessional: ‘A male songwriter might play on the same themes as a female songwriter and it’s assumed that the girl is singing from her diary, and the boy is making statements on the big themes of life.’ Consequently a lot of female artists hate to be called confessional. As if they could only sing about what actually happened to them and men instead get to create ideas and true art.Now I’m quite sure that my songs deal with big theme’s - death, destruction, faith, love and alienation, to name a few - but there’s also this guilt/atonement/redemption thing going on. Like in this song, so maybe I am a confessional songwriter. And maybe this is a confessional song - even though I’m not sharing any secrets - I’m just trying to find words for what bothers me, trying to explore the nature of guilt and ways to overcome it.Part of me wants to side with the tough girls and condemn all references to confessional songwriting as meek and biased, and then part of me wants to stand up for the confessional girls of the past -when they were true, honest, brave and capable enough to transform the personal into a Grand Theme.

lyrics

We do not speak

Of what we cannot speak we do not speak
of all the wounds that are too deep
We bury them beneath our love
between the promises we keep
we don’t do possibilities
we do what works for us
We have no other remedies
they got lost with what we lost

And I will not complain
we’ve made it through, we’re on our feet again
And in the wee hours of a looming day
please tell me that’s ok

The wind picks up a plastic bag
blows it up against the fence
it lingers there and then falls back again
someone kicks it as they pass
was I guilty was I innocent
was I a witness or a thief
did I steel your dirty memories
did I cleanse them with my grief

Burn all the bridges behind us
tear all flesh from the bone
i’ll be brave like a newborn
I have nothing to atone for

credits

from We do not speak - EP, released December 17, 2016
recorded at home

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about

VanWyck Amsterdam, The Netherlands

With her rich lyrics and sober alt folk craft Amsterdam singer-songwriter VanWyck has released 4 albums: 'An Average Woman' in 2018, 'Molten Rock' in 2019, 'God is in the Detour' in 2020 and 'The Epic Tale of the Stranded Man' in 2022.

vanwyck.nl

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