"The Listening Chair" lyrics - IMOGEN HEAP

-9 months

Dot

0-7yrs (the lullaby to make your own)

Cat, blue, piano
Are just some of the things I like
So the more that I see of them in my day
The better I sleep at night

Mum, Dad, Giles, Lizzie, Juliet, Uncle James
Are just some of the people I love
So the more of all them I can get in my day
The better I'll sleep at night

I can moonwalk, build castles, play ping pong,
Talk to animals, hold my breath for a really long time
And tell the future
Are just 6 of the things I can do
And the more I can fit of these things in my day
The better I sleep at night
The better I sleep at night

7-14yrs

Composer
Or maybe an astronaut
This is what I'm gonna be when I grow up
I know 'cause I sing out all through the day
And fly through space by night

The teasing, the fighting, the hospitals
I don't want to go anymore
I put a brave face on and battle through the day
But I might cry myself to sleep

I need more
(Pinch pinch, punch punch, dancing round the car park after lunch)
Gadgets or
(Copycats, gold stars, cola cubes for good marks)
Pocket money
(Shy type, show-off, your mum's got a Mazda, so what?)

I need more
(Swap stickers, best friends, Knight Rider watch tell the time again)
Gadgets or
(The popular, blonde hair, all the pretty girls sit over there)
Pocket money
(Sisters in school, he's cool, our brother knows karate)

14-21yrs

What do I do to make you hate me so much?
Is it the clothes I wear?
The way I speak?
Wonderbra thrown round the German classroom
You wouldn't understand
I'll never live it down

Hiding in the bushes
Or tiptoeing down the corridor
Stop it, you'll make me laugh
Why would I ever need to know this?
Somehow I'll get through

I never want this to end
This night, this music
With you in my arms

Switch in to the real world
No idea what I'm doing
But here it goes...
There she goes!

21-28yrs

I've found a place, feels like home
But I caught you kissing her
So suddenly I'm on my own

There's just not enough hours in the day
But things are going great, I can't complain

When I stumble to bed, I sleep like a baby
Finding my feet
Make love, make money, make a difference
Finding my feet
Connect, connect

Finding my feet
Make love, make money, make a difference
How'd ya do that again?
Connect, connect together

28-35yrs

I find myself gazing out of the window for no reason

When did I stop eating bread and cheese?
I love cheese

I want to have children
But I don't want to have children... you know?

Something niggling
A feeling I can't quite explain
Online, offline
Like I'm not really here
Awake or sleeping
Somehow I can't tell the difference
Bright light outside
Dark deep down within

It's a cover up
It was a cover up operation all along
Honing in
I'm honing in on the heart of it all
Toughen up
I've gotta toughen up 'cause I'm breaking it all apart
What's at the heart?
What's at the heart of it all?

Who am I now?

Who am I now?