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.