This song is sung by a brother, Ted, and sister, Stevie, who have a relationship of both intense attachment and acid rivalry at the same time. They are from a wealthy, intellectual but dysfunctional family which is under siege and in the process of breaking up, perhaps to be renewed in a better way, perhaps to be extinguished. I always liked the song for its bittersweet awareness of how ragile and crucial the sweet times in life can be. –J. Linn Allen

“FAMILY MOMENTS” from

THE ANARCHIST GIRL

STEVIE

FAMILY MOMENTS SHOULD BE SWEET,

COMMON PLEASURES PASSED AROUND:

DID WE SHARE SUCH MOMENTS?

TALKS THAT NEVER MISS A BEAT,

WALKS ON OLD FAMILIAR GROUND

WERE THERE MOMENTS LIKE THAT?

TED AND STEVIE

IF WE DID, THEY CAME AND WERE GONE —

NOTHING REAL YOU’D WANT TO RELY ON

TED

SILLY GAMES ON RAMBLING TRIPS,

KNOWING LOOKS THAT MADE US GRIN,

FLASHING BY SO QUICKLY.

WORDS THAT SPRANG TO ALL OUR LIPS,

STORIES WHERE WE ALL CHIMED IN:

I CAN’T SAY WHAT THEY WERE.

TED AND STEVIE

STILL WE WANT TO SAVE SOUVENIRS —

THREE OR FOUR IN OUR MINDS WE CAN TREASURE

ALTHOUGH WE WISH THEY’D MEAN SOMETHING MORE

AND THEY WEREN’T JUST SHAPES FADING IN A DUSTY ALBUM

STEVIE

YES I CAN SEE

MEMORIES BUT SO VERY FEW

MOSTLY THINGS WENT BADLY ASKEW

TED

SADLY FOR ME

TENSION SEEMED TO RULE

I FEARED I WAS A FOOL

SO I COPED BY BEING COOL

TED AND STEVIE

FEELINGS HAD TO BE SUPPRESSED

NOTHING WRONG COULD BE CONFESSED

FAMILY SECRETS LEFT UNGUESSED

BUT OH YES, I RECALL SOME GOOD TIMES

LITTLE SCENES BACK THEN I CAN CHERISH.

SO WHY DOES THE BAD

SPREAD OVER ALL WE HAD?

TED AND STEVIE

THERE WERE MOMENTS, BUT SO RARE.

NOW AND THEN I WONDER WHERE

THEY ALL WENT OR IF I CARE.

SHOULD I SIMPLY JUST ACCEPT

THEY WERE ONCE THERE.