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Heart on My Sleeve
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Album   $13
Loving again despite heartache. Cameo appearance from Grandad. A.Acosta on guitar and bass, plus riffs by J. Severson, with backing vocals by E. Townsend and cello by C. Sexton.
country god jesus bluegrass addiction soldiers heartbreak recovery marriage adoption marital romance codependency
Discover the symphonies in your life through mine. Join me in giving glory to God as we cope with love/loss, addiction/recovery, codependency/freedom, abando
Alexandra Lajoux Welcome, Friends! This singer-songwriter and producer writes and recruits as the Spirit moves! For links to my most recent recordings, please visit my label's website, americanclassicrecordings.com (ACR), or look me up on places like itunes.com. ACR has released several albums over the past several years, alternating between original secular songs and classic hymns. Many of the tracks feature yours truly. The first project, My Country (2006), was a singer-songwriter album featuring yours truly. To its glory, it featured guest vocalists Doc McKinsey and Eric Townsend, as well as inspired instrumentals from Andrew Acosta, Jeff Severson, Christopher Sexton, Steve Magnusen, and others. See more details at AlexisMusicStudio.com, dedicated to veterans and active-duty military. Our song "We Thank You" is posted at americasupportsyou.mil. Please visit and express your appreciation for our brave men and women in uniform. The next album released under the ACR label was "Day of Praise," released in April 2007. Guest stars included Wesley Robinson, Noreen Freeman, Angel Sheppard and daughters, Jarvis Smith, Jonathan Hopkins, Kendra Miller, Aaron Bunche, and Emmanuel Jackson. The album features familiar hymns and two originals--"Break the Yoke" by Angela Sheppard and "Holy Spirit" by Alexandra Lajoux. For the rest of 2007 and 2008 your heroine returned to songwriting, releasing two maxi-singles: Texas/Liberty and I Relove You/Je Retaime, featuring songs about my two favorite subjects--my country and my husband! In early 2009, I recorded a rock version of "Danny Boy" as a tribute to a friend. Later in 2009, my direction returned to religious music, singing hymns with singers and musicians from several churches in the greater Washington, D.C. area. In early 2009, we released What a Friend We Have in Jesus (in a new arrangement by Joe Warfield)/He Is Great (original composition), featuring singers from Macedonia Baptist, Arlington, VA; First A.M.E., Alexandria; Woodstream, and Hunter Memorial A.M.E. Featured singers, arrangers, and songwriters included Joe Warfield, Dorothy Thomas, and many others. Next to come that same year was One Day at a Time, Sweet Jesus, with vocals by Rayshun LaMarr, Robin Walker, and (leading track 1) yours truly. This album has been well received around the world. The title track, featuring Lajoux and LaMarr, has received more than 1,000 paid downloads and many more streams from all over the globe! In 2010, a sacred silence reigned. I stopped recording music to spend more time with my sweet mother Stella Swingle Reed, who was battling cancer and other ills with a grace that left me forever astonished at her courage and the goodness of God. In 2011, with my mother's encouragement, I returned to the studio and for the next year, thinking always of her, recorded hymns with the amazing tenor Chris Dennard working with gifted co-producers Jarvis Smith (keybord) and Jeff Severson (guitar). Please look for our 2012 Blessed Assurance tracks on any major music retailer on the web. A final word: Mes Amis, Meine Freunden, Miei Amici, Mis Amigos, if you have suggestions for future recordings, or comments on any here, please drop me a line. (I read French, German, Italian, and Spanish, and can decipher a number of other languages, so if you are too shy to write in English, go ahead and write your own language. I will write back.)
Song Info
Charts
#902 in subgenre Peak #9
Charts
Peak #77
Author
Alexandra Lajoux
Rights
Alexandra Lajoux
Uploaded
April 14, 2006
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.0 MB 128 kbps 4:21
Story behind the song
My paternal grandmother, who was born in 1892, knew countless poems by heart, including "When I Was One And Twenty," by A.E. Housman. Whenever I had a broken heart, she used to recite it. Using poetic license, I changed Grammy into a Grandad--partly to take advantage of Andrew Acosta's wonderful voice--and perhaps to evoke the Grandfather I never had (both of my grandfathers died when I was very young). Recently, when even at my mature age, I experienced heartbreak, my grandmother's voice and the Housman poem came back to console me, and I realized that I would survive the heartbreak and love again--starting right at home.
Lyrics
HEART ON MY SLEEVE Verse 1 Well you can see she’s dressed pretty as a picture, Brocade and ribbons, the best that girls can weave. But if you look real close you’ll see a worn-out patch here. That’s where she ripped off the heart that was on her sleeve. Chorus 1 Well she’s not wearin’ her heart on her sleeve no more. No she’s not wearin’ her heart on her sleeve any more. No she’s not offrin’ her heart up for love no more. She put it back in a cage like a dove. Verse 2 Now you can seem him right there standing at attention. A soldier boy who fights to keep us free. But if you look close at that place I mentioned, You’ll see he ripped off the heart that was on his sleeve. Chorus 2 Well he’s not wearin’ his heart on his sleeve no more. No he’s not wearin’ his heart on his sleeve any more. No he’s not offrin his heart up for love no more. He put it back in a cage like a dove. Verse 3 Well it reminds me of a poem my Grandad told me Whenever some true love and I would part. He’d boom it out from memory, then scold me; So here’s that poem Grandaddy knew by heart: “When I was one-and-twenty I heard a wise man say 'Give crowns and pounds and guineas But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies, But keep your fancy free.’ But I was one-and-twenty, No use to talk to me. When I was one-and-twenty I heard him say again, 'The heart out of the bosom Was never given in vain; Tis paid with sighs a plenty And sold for endless rue.’ And I am two-and-twenty, And oh, 'tis true, 'tis true.” Verse 4 Well the years have passed and my tears have been a flowin’ But when it comes to love, I gotta just believe. So if you look real close, you’ll see some blue threads showin’. That’s where I sewed back that heart that was on my sleeve Last Chorus Well I’m still wearin’ my heart on my sleeve, my dears Yes, I’m still wearin’ my heart on my sleeve, I swear. Yes I’m still offrin’ my heart up to sweet, sweet love. It flew back out of that cage .. like a turtledove.
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