Jessye DeSilva NPR Tiny Desk Contest Entry 2020 "Queen of the Backyard"

Jessye DeSilva (they/them/theirs)
"Queen of the Backyard" (musics and lyrics by Jessye DeSilva)
2020 Entry into the NPR Tiny Desk Contest

*Note from the songwriter:
This song is a snapshot of that early, all-too-brief moment in my childhood when I was able to gloriously revel in my “weirdness,” without yet knowing I was “different” - or that “different” equaled “bad.” I write a lot about the struggles of a queer childhood, and I wanted to capture something of the beauty and joy of it for once.

Lyrics:
Tripping over treetrunks, running through the weeds
Dandelions sing to the faeries in the willow trees
Barefoot in the backyard, ruling like a queen
Holding court with the clover and the summer breeze

Traveling the world in the space of a day
Music is a sound, not an inkblot on a printed page
A stick is a wand and a blanket’s a cape
Weird is just a word, not a thing that brings you shame.

Chorus:
Mighty is your joy, mighty is your joy
Blissful unaware of the growing pain stings
Little girl-boy, little girl-boy
Keep singing to the witch in the piano strings

Revel in the joy of mid-day things
Caterpillar spells and butterfly wings
Back when the world was all sticky and sweet
The day was like a table laid for you to eat.

Way back then your favorite color was green
Just a pixelated world through the lens of an old porch screen
Front row seats to the thunder and the rain,
Back before you knew anything about pain.

(Chorus)

Bridge:
I’m coming back for you… I’m coming back for you
I’m coming back to you… I’m coming back to you.

I never really needed an invisible friend.
All the scratches and scrapes a mother’s kisses could mend.
Fumbling with flowers and singing to the stones,
Nobody around to make me feel alone.

(Chorus)

Видео Jessye DeSilva NPR Tiny Desk Contest Entry 2020 "Queen of the Backyard" канала JessyeDMusic