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Not A Proper Girl

by Kate Owen

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1.
The Void 03:08
The Void Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen VERSE 1 You’re always leaning down  Eyes melt away the ground  Pulls me down She never screams out loud Doesn’t even make a sound Holds it in   CHORUS 1 And if I fall will you carry me  Down the void  And if I fall will you carry me  Down the void    Ooooooo x2 VERSE 2 You’ve always love the dark  Clothes all black velvet   Wears me down  He never takes it off A cloak black and soft Keeps her warm CHORUS 2 And if I fall will you carry me  Down the void  And if I fall will you carry me  Down the void    Ooooooo x2 BRIDGE Lined with moss and burned with time And so far down x 2 CHORUS 3 And if I fall will you carry me  Down the void  And if I fall will you carry me  Down the void  Ooooooo x2 Hey ay yay
2.
Lover 03:56
Lover Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen INTRO I’ll stay true again Lover, I’ll be, good, to you again Lover Peace be to you VERSE 1 Alone Again Hands touch again Heads turn away So close again Eyes close again I’m not looking for anything CHORUS 1 Lover touch me Lover hold me Lover remember I’ll bring you peace I’ll bring you peace Verse 2 He breaths her in Blue skies darken Storms coming back Lean in my friend Push into the wind A brave heart can feel everything BRIDGE Lover crawl down And climb into my chest I’ll keep you, I’ll always keep you safe CHORUS 2 Lover touch me Lover hold me Lover remember I’ll bring you peace I’ll bring you peace INTRO REPEAT I’ll stay true again Lover, I’ll be, good, to you again Lover Peace be to you CHORUS 3 Lover touch me Lover hold me Lover remember I’ll bring you peace I’ll bring you peace OUTRO Lover, Peace be to you.
3.
Trigger 04:06
Trigger Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen VERSE 1 I’ve  got  a taste   It’s bitter on my  tongue  Makes it hard to swallow   Thoughts of you    While I’ll never know  The battle raging inside of you  I still need you to stay    CHORUS   1 So pull the trigger  Break the mirror  Watch me Bleed x 2 VERSE 2 You told me one day  It would be better off that way  Cause you feel like your drowning   In the rain    I’ll get my affairs in  order  Cause I’ll be out for years  This  wound your about to wield   Will make sure of that    CHORUS   2 So pull the trigger  Break the mirror  Watch me Bleed x 2   BRIDGE I’m tired baby I’m tired of breathing for you CHORUS   3 So pull, pull the trigger  Break, break the mirror  So pull, pull the trigger  Watch me bleed Watch me bleed
4.
Lullaby 04:15
Lullaby Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen VERSE 1 Write me a lullaby, sing me a tune  Write me a melody, sing me you     VERSE 2 Draw me in lines, paint me in blue  Cast me in glass, till you see through  PRE-CHORUS 1 Quiet nights, black love bites, lovers blood flows X2 CHORUS 1 Head on my chest, we lie like the rest  Do you hear me?  My heart in your hand  We sink like quick sand  Do you know me?  So Write me a melody sing me a tune.       VERSE 3 Soak me in time, carve me into you  Dig your grave next to mine . Once one now we’re two  CHORUS 2 Head on my chest, we lie like the rest  Do you hear me?  My heart in your hand  We sink like quick sand  Do you know me?  So Write me a melody sing me a tune.  PRE-CHORUS 2 / OUTRO Quiet nights, black love bites, lovers blood flows X 5
5.
Hungry Ghost 04:57
Hungry Ghost Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen VERSE 1 The light is on, (but) baby your not home You say it’s all right babe but I know it’s all wrong Getting real high, falling down low Feeding the ghost Driving too fast, breathing too slow Feeding the ghost PRE-CHORUS 1 So hold me Under the water now I’m not breathing anyway Go on and hold me Under the water now You said it would be this way Hey. CHORUS 1 Hunger drowns, The desperate clown And, ghost blood weeps, Onto Angels feet Hunger drowns, The desperate clown While his child cries alone He just wants to feel home Verse 2 The stars are bright, but all you see in dark Pushing too far, holding too tight Feeding the ghost Getting real high, falling down low Feeding the ghost PRE-CHORUS 2 So hold me Under the water now I’m not breathing anyway Go on and hold me Under the water now You always said it would be this way CHORUS 2 Hunger drowns, The desperate clown And, ghost blood weeps, Onto Angels feet Hunger drowns, The desperate clown While his child cries alone He just wants to feel home
6.
Heathens Prayer Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen   VERSE 1 The night came down on me    a heavy leaden plough  Her best friend came With  the look of dreaded now  And I breathed , nothing changed  A scream, nothing changed    CHORUS 1 So I fall down on to my knees  A heathen’s  prayer  have  mercy on me   She falls down on to her knees A heathen’s prayer have mercy on me And I breathed, nothing changed A scream, nothing changed VERSE 2 The years bore down on him It’ll all be over soon He smiled through tears for her   Stood tall in crowded rooms  And he breathed, nothing changed He screamed, nothing changed CHORUS 2 So he falls down on to his knees  Her heathen’s  prayer  have  mercy on me   So she falls down on to her knees A heathen’s prayer have mercy on me OURTO And I fall (Have mercy on me) …repeats to end
7.
Better Man 04:02
Better Man Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen VERSE 1 Don’t crowd me I’m still broken Still got this tear drop in my hand I always thought I’d be with a better man. Don’t laugh at me I’m still so sad Still got this tear drop in my hand I always thought I’d be with a better man CHORUS 1 Sister won’t you tell me , What’s a girl to do When she’s taught her hearts only good as part of two An, I always thought I’d be with a better man. VERSE 2 And don’t toy with It’s no fun When I’ve got this teardrop in my hand I always thought I’d be with a better man Don’t love me Unless you can Hold my teardrops in your hand If you can do that I’ll know that I’m with a better man CHORUS 2 Sister won’t you tell me , What’s a girl to do When she’s taught her hearts only good as part of two An, I always thought I’d be with a better man. CHORUS 2 Sister won’t you tell me , What’s a girl to do When she’s taught her hearts only good as part of two An, I always thought I’d be with a better man.
8.
Blew Away 03:41
Blew Away Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen Verse 1 Didn’t know how cold I’d feel When you walked away Didn’t know how long it’d take When you fell away I didn’t cry , You didn’t call , I didn’t say a thing , You didn’t cry , I didn’t call , We didn’t say a thing Chorus 1 We just blew away We just blew away We just blew Verse 2 Didn’t know how calm I’d feel When you looked away Can’t see how you’ve strayed When the hunter turns to prey I didn’t cry , You didn’t call, we didn’t say a thing You didn’t cry, I didn’t call , We didn’t say a thing Chorus 1 We just blew away We just blew We just blew away BRIDGE Does time heal Do wounds scar - the mind games the clock ticks And when the truths revealed Will it drive the heart too far Chorus 3 Till we just blow away Till we just blow away Till we just blow We just blow away OUTRO Till we just blow <repeats>
9.
Dangerous Dreams Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen Verse 1 I think of you daily Wonder where you’d be Never knew the hole you would leave No, nobody told me Da da da da da da da da da Verse 2 Favourite color baby step, Your soft hands moves alongside mine Cold time reminds us, how my lawful crime will bind Oooooooooo Chorus 1 Dangerous Dreams keep me there Sweet home now smells more like fear One look, one touch, one breath One chance , One life , One Death Verse 3 Imaginations the cancer, feeding Weighs down on me A love buried so deep down I hear the death toll sound in threes Ooooooooooooooooooooooooo Chorus 2 Dangerous Dreams keep me there Sweet home now smells more like fear One day one night one breath One chance , One life , One Death OURTO Don’t Keep me here I’m just falling, falling down Oooooooooooooo Dangerous Dreams Keep me here Oooooooooooooo Dangerous Dreams Keep me here Don’t Keep me here I’m just falling, falling down.
10.
Red Rose 04:09
Red Rose Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen Verse 1 First time you saw me  I was looking down  Second time I saw you  You were wearing a frown     So I opened the door  Let you inside  Your eyes opened  What a surprise  CHORUS 1 Why does the sun shine when you touch me I don’t even know your game  It’s just another red rose  It’s just another red rose  Verse 2 When you finally wake  I’m just a friend And all you spoke of  Last night was pretend     So I make tea  One for you one for me  Two hearts wanting more  Petals all over the floor  CHORUS 2 Why does the sun shine when you touch me I don’t even know your game  It’s just another red rose  It’s just another red rose     BRIDGE But by any other name  His thorns they always draw blood  You smell like shame With this blood thirsty Love OUTRO It’s just another red rose  <repeats>
11.
Ask The Stars Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen VERSE 1 People say they can remember her smile I can only remember her tears And the days she would disappear Leaving me standing there She left me asking the stars CHORUS 1 Who will hold me now Who Who will hold me now Verse 2 Nights can be long when your waiting for lights To drive to the top and kiss me goodnight But they never come and I stay wide awake They left me asking the stars CHORUS 2 Who will hold me now Who Who will hold me now VERSE 3 You told me you loved me for so long Now your just happy I’m all alone Then you turned like a jeckle child love turns to lust Of the lonely kind, of the loneliest kind He left me asking the stars CHORUS 3 Who will hold me now Who Who will hold me now
12.
Clean 05:05
Clean Music and Lyrics by Kate Owen VERSE 1   I’m just a child waiting for her mother  I’m a great grandfather remembering his lover    She’s just a girl  who dreams of a house and picket fences   He bruised and broken his life’s as a battle in the trenches    CHORUS 1 All of us fools  Looking for the truth  Drowning in lies  Wash me Clean    VERSE 2 She drowned all her sorrow in a sea full of glass While he dragged his rainbow backwards through the mud    She looked high and low for love in the strangest of places  While he scored back ally highs and duels at 10 paces  CHORUS 2 All of us fools  Looking for the truth  Drowning in lies  Wash  me Clean  VERSE 3 She’s seen the catholic girls waiting for redemption  He’s  kicking off his shoes and dancing in detention    She’s a freedom fighter one day she’ll save the world  Until she realizes she’s not a man not a man, just a god  CHORUS 3 All of us fools  Looking for the truth  Drowning in lies  Wash  me Clean  Wash  me Clean CHORUS 4 All of us fools  Looking for the truth  Drowning in lies  Wash  me Clean  Wash  me Clean

about

‘Not A Proper Girl’, recorded with Ben Edwards (The Sitting Room, Lyttelton), showcases Owen’s songs with rich textures including synth and strings, and strong rhythmic pulses from live kits and drums machines. The result is an album with a sound that has been likened to PJ Harvey and Julee Cruise (Twin Peaks), with a lyrical style echoing Jeff Buckley.

Themes of isolation and grief run strong throughout the album. Song writing is how Kate has worked through life’s struggles; not feeling feminine enough as a young woman; losing her mother to mental illness and then suicide; never having children of her own; and in her own words her ‘disillusionment with romantic love as the modern holy grail of human connection’

credits

released March 13, 2020

Played and sung by Kate Owen, Jonty O’Connor, Shane Bolingford, Tom Harris, Moses Robbins, Anita Clark, Elmore Jones, Ben Edwards, Mike Fordham.
All tracks written by Kate Owen.
Produced, recorded and mixed by Ben Edwards at The Sitting Room, Lyttelton, NZ.
Mastered by Chris Chetland at KOG, Auckland, NZ.
Photography by Justyn Rebecca Denny and Amanda Billing Artwork by Leon White Design.
For my Mum, Barbara Owen.
This album was made possible thanks to the generous contributions of 173 arts supporters who believed in me and my music. You know who you are.

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Kate Owen New Zealand

A singer with a poetic, restrained intensity, Kate Owen has been song-writing for 20 years and performing live for a decade, but until now has never recorded an album. Her sound ranges from stripped-back laments to 90’s pop anthems. Her recordings showcases Owen’s songs with rich textures including synth and strings, & strong rhythmic pulses from live kits & drums machines. ... more

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