Listen to the Full Discography:
Press Release For "Modes of Being"
"It was 10,000 hours of fun."
Michelle is only half-kidding when she says this. She's talking about the work she put into her latest creative endeavor, a lyric book called "Modes of Being."
A compilation of the Midwest-based singer-songwriter's lyrics from her first five albums, the book traces the evolution of an artist over a period of several years - so 10,000 hours is probably a pretty accurate estimation of the time involved here.
And as for fun: Michelle isn't, after all, one of the hardest-working musicians in the area because she doesn't love what she does. But as is the case with most serious artists, it's sometimes hard to distinguish the lines between "work" and -- well, everything else.
In any case, this project was clearly a labor of love for the young woman who began her career performing in coffeehouses up and down the Mississippi River, attracting the attention of such seasoned musicians as Clay Riness and Joe and Vicki Price; and who has developed over the past several years a solid and devoted fan base.
I suspect those fans will love "Modes of Being" - not just because it contains the collected lyrics to Michelle's songs; but also because it is, at heart, an extended conversation - between the artist and a host of area artists and patrons of the arts - about music, and the creative process in general.
Interspersed among the song lyrics (which are organized chronologically, by album), are questions asked of the artist by other musicians, dancers, visual artists and people who just love music. So while the book reads on one level like an almost uber-interview (and it's a lot of fun to see what kinds of questions creative people ask one another), it is on another level a thought-provoking opportunity to pick up the conversation begun here - and to talk about music and art, and what it means to live a creative life.
The book also is a lovely companion to Michelle's latest album, "Without an Outline" - which she calls her "most playful album to date," and which her friend and book collaborator (he picked the artwork and helped edit, organize and layout the pages), Adam Wiltgen, says is "the most fully artistic, fleshed-out project she's done."
- By Julie Berg-Raymond
Lyrics/Music
The songs from the first five albums have a mental health focus instead of a history focus. Below you can find music and lyrics from the album Without an Outline.
Tracks
why search for you with the circumference of my stare
I turn around
you're not there
inside with nothing to guard
we've climbed both sides of this wall before
every ladder encountered here is a one way
staying off is the escape
as I brace for the day
when I am no longer me
I hope to meet you there
we journey so far
in the spot right where we are
I simplified all my supplies
ran through the fields to follow your cry
creatures of will
full of potential
up on your hill I saw you spy
I saw you spy
so what am I
the kind of tracks you leave are like a flying bird
circling the predator
you know your damage control
and you're so close
you're invisible
Centers and Limits
worlds open up all around you
have I been magnifying the myth
finding myself in it
these days
worlds open up inside of you
have I been the stranger to my own land
tunnel vision in the wide open
plane
slowly our travels changed
slowly our travels changed their aim
still I am one foot out for one foot in
a challenge in balance
centered in limits
the time's come
you know what to do
worlds opened up all around you
Reality Spell
it all exists always to exit
into a new entrance
sunrise for somebody’s sunset
earth red with both birth and death
all were calling us here
with the call to color us in
the whole of existence on the edge
building a bridge
I found you
changes all worth going through
never did add up to an excuse
forgive me life
I declined
what the mind wants and what all life needs
let's never make it two separate things
bird songs and territory are surely reconciling
whispers of the jaded jester
who on earth are you working for
what are you going to do
choose your door one two three or four
I found you
changes all worth going through
never did add up to an excuse
forgive me life
I declined
So do you chose
once you know that you do
what will you chose
all those opposing pursuits
narrow in on the few that guide to
release from the reality spell
it isn't wrong if it isn't even real
all of these people mean well
whenever it's hard to tell
who here has been harmed
who here has been helped
copied keys to the cell
of secrets I keep from myself
I found you
changes all worth going through
never did add up to an excuse
forgive me I
Step Lightly
it appears all of our probable scenarios
are about to unfold
as we gravitate to the ones we like
it helps create the ones we find
renovating for a better cage
never did take the cage away
there's far too much to speculate
and every idea to decorate only hangs in the way
while waiting for patience
nothing is in the way
it is finished
while debating the pros and cons
we've seen enough to know the favorite one
letting go of what props us up
we discover no back and no front
we're in it all and it's all in us
without an outline even
step lightly while falling into place
behind leave the figure eight
you'll find me in close proximity
separate ways to the same place
the walk there is always longer
than the walk back
remember this earth as a blender
there's a big picture
and it's in here somewhere
as shattered patterns
come here to gather
faster and faster
one after another
steps lightly while falling into place
behind leave the figure eight
you'll find me in close proximity
separate ways to the same place
Automatic Thoughts
to stay to remain
to review how I came
to aim to relate to this place
to rise to fall
to be here at all
feeling is part of these
longing to be where all moments meet
feeling is part of these
I like to be where I can stay in one piece
to seek to reach
to return and repeat
to merge with the blur
to return and move forward
to serve over and over
I will until my thoughts
grow farther and farther apart
Up and Out
everything we are not
keeps us in our shape
we are only in your blind spot
we are never out of range
outsmart all danger on impact
if it's hard to relax
recall how you can bounce back
flying past where you started at
all those premonitions of living
say go and know you never go it alone
designed with a sense of distance
we hope you don't forget
when it's time to switch direction
bottoming out helped turn the whole person around
no going down always leaves up and out
all those premonitions of living
say go and know you never go it alone
fly or crawl
welcome both
Land
water rising
and nobody coming back for me
a stranger a favor
a sudden change in the weather
a hand on my shoulder
a hand on the shoulder they're looking over
near a saddle a gun barrel
two tin cans and a lost paddle
now and then we'll trespass on your land
I looked east I looked west
I stood there shaking my head
they lead I said yes
I didn't know what I was agreeing with
traders or invaders
or settlers on the move
make room for more room
they say move where time moves you
now and then we'll trespass on your land
nothing to defend as all we see depends on
where we stand
stranded almost as if I'd planned it
never abandoned
Fleeting Formations
overstimulation is equal
to no movement at all
I'm a small piece in the puzzle
making myself comfortable
tidying up on distraction
because there's always one
on the verge of about to happen
fleeting formations lock together in a bind
lost forever all sense of time
can't get back the same way twice
holes in space peaking through lately
nothing seems all that crazy
solar wind ions from on high
shedding light where it's hazy
saw you there soon as I didn't
things are not quite what they're called
could I be your favorite phantom
fleeting formations lock together in a bind
lost forever all sense of time
here in different densities
of the same waking dream
I see you but you don't seem to see me
keeping you company
in between your seen and unseen
Vultures
you can be anywhere
are you straight ahead
everything is closer than I think it is
close up you're close
we all sow our current
then we reap it's ocean
we're all taken for a spin
and then asked where we've been
so long astral vultures feeding on me
so long the plots to do me in failed
leave
you're done
all gone
very clearly every time you perch near me
my frequencies fly into a frenzy
we clash and then we match
like emotional pitch
busting out of this skin
we are all we surround ourselves with
so long astral vultures feeding on me
so long the plots to do me in failed
leave
you're done
all gone
again you'll call to me
again you'll come to me
soon to go right through
still I will be unmoved
Homeostasis
we move each other
we move each other along
everyone gets on when they want
show me some ropes
where to hold when to let go
it is as it always was
it just took awhile to notice
tame or be tamed
is only one way to play
when I hesitate
they feed me to the bait
we catch all we can
then we turn it lose again
it is as it always was
it just took awhile to notice
we move each other
we move each other along
everyone gets off when they want
Down and In
now happens
everything's in everyone
now is one version of
everywhere all at once
right when I was I gave it up
right when I stalled I gave it my all
light and sound turned inside out
flights here
how am I upside down
nowhere to be found
all around
all in now
all is allowed
turn in turn out
swimming in 3D
in a knot called the body
time sits beside these
spaces above these
signal you on
Arrive (But Never Stay)
one makes a lot as it unfolds
in several levels
paint yourself a window
seeing from all angles
no pacing no retracing
but a vague feeling
I've been where I'll be
the past present and future
all under one roof
holding hands with eachother
though opposite rooms
no backway no entryway
but a staircase
that circulates up
we became one without being the same
arrive but never stay
change
flexible as water
to seep inbetween
from higher planes
into modes of being
rediscover all you came to offer
is the loudest whisper
ever conjured up
we became one without being the same
arrive but never stay
change
Go-betweens
vivid new days begin
with nothing lacking
we always give
all we came to get
and we're leaving gifts
out in the open
or hid in the areas you frequent
we used to leave hints
in the dream exhibits
now seeming to wish direct experience
you keep connected through detachment
viewing all things in motion
the spiral's wound until it soars out
following a route
hollowing you out
forms sing into your mouth
straight through to the clouds
eagerly go-between close within reach
consult the source
free your entity
shedding the shadow
like losing it all
things you outrun in a free fall
grant permission to be how you are
don't act a life to live your part
If my life is your fast ad-lib
don't think too hard
just think ahead
we won't finish all in one breath
and it's such a relief to be nothing I've said
