推薦華裔女歌手Vienna Teng

SONG NAME: Homecoming

Words and music by Vienna Teng

it's desert ice outside but this diner has thawed my ears
hot coffee in a clean white mug and a smile when the waitress hears
that I was born in North Carolina
not an hour from her home town
and we used to play the same pizza parlor pinball

and there's a glance in time suspended as I wonder how it is
we've been swept up just by circumstance to where the coyote lives
where my days are strips of highway
and she's wiping tables down
holding on and still waiting for that windfall

but I've come home
even though I've never had so far to go
I've come home

I pay the check and leave the change from a crumpled ten-dollar bill
head across the street where VACANCY is burning in neon still
well the night eats up my body heat
and there's no sign of another
and I find myself slipping down into that black

but things are good I've got a lot of followers of my faith
I've got a whole congregation living in my head these days
and I'm preaching from the pulpit
to cries of “Amen brother”
closing my eyes to feel the warmth come back

and I've come home
even though I swear I've never been so alone
I've come home

I just want to be living as I'm dying
just like everybody here
just want to know my little flicker of time is worthwhile
and I don't know where I'm driving to
but I know I'm getting old
and there's a blessing in every moment every mile

thin white terry bars of soap and a couple little plastic cups
old Gideons Bible in the nightstand drawer saying “Go on open up”
well I'll kneel down on the carpet here
though I never was sure of God
think tonight I'll give Him the benefit of the doubt

I switch off the lights and imagine that waitress outlined in the bed
her hair falling all around me
I smile and shake my head
well we all write our own endings
and we all have our own scars
but tonight I think I see what it's all about

because I've come home
I've come home

HER BIO IN Q&A:

Q: How long does it take for you to write songs?
A: A long time. Sometimes months. Occasionally over a year. I don't actually revise much; it just takes that long for all the pieces to form and assemble.

Q: How would you characterize your music?
A: Oh man, I don't know. I've taken to saying "chamber folk" or "singer-songwriter" to some people. "Somewhere between folk and pop, with a bit of classical and jazz," if they look confused after that. It's frustrating that I have no succinct phrase to offer; at the same time, I think it also means I'm doing something right.

Q: How long have you been playing piano?
A: Since I was five.

Q: Did you study at a conservatory?
A: No, just one-on-one piano lessons until I was 17. Changed my life, though.

Q: How did you learn to sing?
A: In the shower, and in school choirs. I took some voice lessons here and there, which amounted to paying $40-150 a week to be told that I was doing it all wrong. I don't think we fixed anything. So maybe I haven't learned to sing, actually.

Q: When did you start writing songs?
A: I think I was six when I decided I could cobble my own piano piece together. As for songs that I still play in public, the earliest ones are from high school.

Q: How old are you?
A: Born October 1978.

Q: Is it true that you used to be a software engineer?
A: Yes. I got my bachelor's in Computer Science at Stanford University, and went to work for Cisco Systems for two years. These days I remember exactly enough to crash whatever computer I'm working on.