Thomas Anderson

singer, songwriter, rock 'n' roller

Tamara Obscura

by Thomas Anderson

from the album Norman, Oklahoma

I saw her every afternoon

Like pieces of a dream,

Skin so pure I swore she'd melt

Beneath the sky.

Cigarettes and coffee,

A bone china cup,

She said Don't joke

I think I finally know inside.

And I knew what she knew,

What was on her mind,

How those seashell eyes

Would leave the tears behind.

She was the image

Of all her world around,

She was the picture

Of everything she found.

Red if it was red,

Blue if it was blue,

With nothing inside

To hold onto.

Check the exposure,

Check the light,

Open the shutter,

This and this alone is your life.

Up and down Buchanan Street

All through the year,

By 1987

You weren't here.

I remember Subterranea,

How it sputtered and it died,

But you could never hear the songs

I had inside.

Red if it was red,

Blue if it was blue,

This is all the tribute

I can pay to you.

Check the exposure....